Introduction
From September 9 to 13, 2009, Hart Research Associates conducted a nationwide survey among 1,001 adults about attitudes toward the entities involved in the oversight of new scientific and technological advances, awareness of nanotechnology, and awareness of and attitudes toward synthetic biology and its application to create synthetic biofuels. This is the fourth consecutive year that questions have been asked about nanotechnology and the second year that questions have been asked about synthetic biology. At the 95% confidence level, the data's margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points.
Two focus group sessions were conducted in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 16, 2009, among adults—one among individuals with a four-year college degree and one among those with less than a four-year college degree—to explore both unaided and informed impressions of synthetic biology, with a specific focus on the use of this research to make synthetic biofuels. This qualitative research provides context for better understanding some of the survey findings about synthetic biology and synthetic biofuels.
Momentous change can come in tiny packages. Nanotechnologies have been hailed by many as the next industrial revolution, likely to affect everything from clothing and medical treatments to engineering. Although focused on the very small, nanotechnology—the ability to measure, manipulate and manufacture objects that are 1/100th to 1/100,000th the circumference of a human hair—offers immense promise. Whether used in cancer therapies, pollution-eating compounds or stain-resistant apparel, these atomic marvels are radically and rapidly changing the way we live. The National Science Foundation predicts that the global marketplace for goods and services using nanotechnologies will grow to $1 trillion by 2015 and employ 2 million workers.
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"The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ordered farmers to limit the use of a type of antibiotics they give livestock because it could make people more resistant to a key antibiotic that can save lives, encouraging news for public health advocates who say such animal antibiotics are overused."
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"For decades, factory farms have used antibiotics even in healthy animals to promote faster growth and prevent diseases that could sicken livestock held in confined quarters. But a firestorm has erupted over a federal proposal recommending antibiotics only when animals are actually sick."
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Sharon Ladin, director of the Pew Health Group’s Antibiotics and Innovation Project, issued the following statement regarding the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now (GAIN) Act (H.R. 2182)...
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"On April 15, scientists reported that the meat bought at supermarkets is often contaminated with Staphylococcus aureas bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics used to fight human disease."
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