Public Perceptions of Tobacco Biopharming
Abstract
A telephone survey of United States consumers' views on
tobacco biopharming indicates widespread support for developing
the technology when it generates a socially beneficial application.
Perceptions of risks associated with the technology,
however, are split: Most respondents either hold concerns in
every risk area presented or in none of them. Willingness to purchase
a bio-tobacco-based medicine is bimodal as well. These
polarized perceptions point to the challenges faced by policy
makers who attempt to implement regulatory oversight of biopharming
by balancing the broad-based concerns of the public
against the potentially significant benefits of the technology.
Citation
AgBioForum, 9(2) 2006: 104-110.