From 2009.igem.org
Survey Results
438 people answered to our survey!
Here below is shown a brief summary of the results
Part I
The first part aims to collect some information about our interviewed:
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Part II: Synthetic Biology
The second part aims to collect some information about Synthetic Biology in general:
 6) Have you ever heard of Synthetic Biology before? |  7) Are you curious about it? |
 8) Do you think is proper to use and eventually modify microrganisms (bacteria, yeasts) to produce something usefull to mankind? |  9) Would you agree with a future extension toward more complex living beings, as animals or plants? |
 10) Does the idea of living beings as "programmable machine" worry you? |  11) Could a deeper knowledge increase your confindence in Synthetic Biology? |
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Part III: Implications of Synthetic Biology
The third part aims to collect some information about ethical implications of Synthetic Biology:
 12) Do you think right that the procedures to make synthetic biological systems and devices are open source? |  13) Are collective benefits a "right aim" for genetically modifying organisms? |
 14) Do you think that an economic value can be assigned to products realized with living materials? |  15) Are organisms fabricated in laboratory different from the ones existing in nature? |
 16) Do you agree with public funding of Synthetic Biology research? |  17) Should Universities offer courses of Synthetic Biology? |
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Part IV: iGEM and the UniBO iGEM Team 2009
The last part aims to collect some information about ethical implications of our project and about our team in general:
 18) Do you agree with University of Bologna partecipation to this international competition? |  19) UniBO iGEM Team 2009's project aims to realize a protein synthesis regulation system in Escherichia coli that is independent from regulated protein and acts at translational level, to make the control action faster. Does that seem important to you? |
 20) Do you think this project has ethical implications? |  21) Do you think this project involves risks for humans or the environment? |
22) What do you think about what we are doing? Up
The survey ended with the open question: Now that you have completed this survey, what are your impressions?
Most of the comments revealed a general lack of knowledge of Synthetic Biology, since many people hadn't ever heard of this subject before the survey. Despite this, most people expressed curiosity about Synthetic Biology in general and especially in iGEM. Since the respondents were mostly from Italy, they were very happy for University of Bologna
partecipation to iGEM and very excited for our project. As for the ethical implications, most of people recognized the importance of a responsible and conscious use of Synthetic Biology:
Remember: with great power comes great responsibility.
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