Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance.
Synthetic cells constructed bottom-up represent a novel direction in Synthetic Biology. It has the potential to deepen the scientific understanding of life and, in the longer run, to open up new pathways for medical and environmental applications. Mapping preliminary public attitudes towards emergin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319337 |
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| _version_ | 1850190063150825472 |
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| author | Olga Rook Hub Zwart Marileen Dogterom |
| author_facet | Olga Rook Hub Zwart Marileen Dogterom |
| author_sort | Olga Rook |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Synthetic cells constructed bottom-up represent a novel direction in Synthetic Biology. It has the potential to deepen the scientific understanding of life and, in the longer run, to open up new pathways for medical and environmental applications. Mapping preliminary public attitudes towards emerging technologies is an important step to further societal discussion and stakeholder participation. We conducted a vignette survey with nationally representative samples from 13 European countries (Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and UK; N = 8,382) to explore public attitudes towards prospective synthetic cell technologies, such as anticancer therapy, CO2 emissions conversion to biofuel, and industrial waste recycling. Using data-driven techniques, we built a decision tree model of the factors affecting participants' attitudes and summarized the prevalent themes behind one's motivation. Our findings suggest substantial public support for prospective synthetic cell applications in the societally beneficial fields, most notably in healthcare. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-755d998d7a2c4ee5acae243f89ebc952 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-755d998d7a2c4ee5acae243f89ebc9522025-08-20T02:15:24ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01202e031933710.1371/journal.pone.0319337Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance.Olga RookHub ZwartMarileen DogteromSynthetic cells constructed bottom-up represent a novel direction in Synthetic Biology. It has the potential to deepen the scientific understanding of life and, in the longer run, to open up new pathways for medical and environmental applications. Mapping preliminary public attitudes towards emerging technologies is an important step to further societal discussion and stakeholder participation. We conducted a vignette survey with nationally representative samples from 13 European countries (Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and UK; N = 8,382) to explore public attitudes towards prospective synthetic cell technologies, such as anticancer therapy, CO2 emissions conversion to biofuel, and industrial waste recycling. Using data-driven techniques, we built a decision tree model of the factors affecting participants' attitudes and summarized the prevalent themes behind one's motivation. Our findings suggest substantial public support for prospective synthetic cell applications in the societally beneficial fields, most notably in healthcare.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319337 |
| spellingShingle | Olga Rook Hub Zwart Marileen Dogterom Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance. PLoS ONE |
| title | Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance. |
| title_full | Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance. |
| title_fullStr | Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance. |
| title_short | Public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications: Pragmatic support and ethical acceptance. |
| title_sort | public attitudes to potential synthetic cells applications pragmatic support and ethical acceptance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319337 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT olgarook publicattitudestopotentialsyntheticcellsapplicationspragmaticsupportandethicalacceptance AT hubzwart publicattitudestopotentialsyntheticcellsapplicationspragmaticsupportandethicalacceptance AT marileendogterom publicattitudestopotentialsyntheticcellsapplicationspragmaticsupportandethicalacceptance |