American consumers’ awareness and acceptance of biotechnology

Abstract

Given that public perception of plant biotechnology has not changed much over the past few years, it is unlikely that acceptance will change much in the future. Research into food shopping preferences and behavior shows that consumers in the United States tend to select food based upon taste, value (price), convenience, and nutrition. While this seems to be true for plant biotechnology, animal biotechnology will raise a host of complex issues. Consumer reaction to transgenic animals will likely be extreme. But no organizations started the challenging, but vital, job of informing the public about the future of animal biotechnology and human genetics.