PUBLIC-ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE SELECTION OF DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS IN CHILDREN

This paper reports the results of a survey of 973 members of the Briti sh public in which attitudes towards methods of achieving desired pers onal characteristics in their children are compared. While there was l ittle support for the use of gene manipulation to achieve desirable tr aits in children, the proportion who would consider doing so has more than doubled in the 12 months since the public were last polled on thi s question. The small but growing public support for the use of gene t herapy to enhance human characteristics points to the need for a debat e involving the public as well as scientists before such techniques ar e feasible.