Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to summarize and report data obtained from surveying high school and college students to determine how they react to the prospects of human genetic engineering. These will be tomorrow's scientists and taxpayers. Are they willing to pay taxes for the continuing support of research into the field of genetics and genetic engineering? How far are they willing to go with such research? Do they think it will benefit society today and in the future, or do they fear that the techniques of genetic engineering will fall into the wrong hands and be used to some horrible purpose? As Nobel geneticist Joshua Lederberg has said:It is indeed true that I might fear the control of my behavior through electrical impulses directed into my brain but . . . I do not accept the implantation of the electrodes except at the point of a gun: the gun is the problem.
