Poll: The Ethicality of Genetically Modified Organisms

INTRO: The topic I have chosen that I feel is a theme represented in Oryx and Crake is the ethicality and widespread use of genetically modified organisms. When choosing demographics for my poll, I felt that high school students, college students, and adults (of varying ages 30 to 50) would have varying opinions and perspectives based upon the subject and would also contain a different knowledge base of such information pertaining to the subject. Even though the oldest demographic might be more experienced in life lessons and schooling, I believed that the college or high school students might be more opinionated and educated on the subject since the use of GMOs is more recent, and is therefore a larger subject of debate and discussion in today’s schooling systems and society. My mode of polling was a survey with a total of five questions that I handed out to each individual; four multiple choice and one free response. The multiple choice was aimed at evaluating opinions, while the free response showed me how much one actually knew about genetically modified organisms, in a general and broad way.

The actual survey and its results are as follows:

1.       Do you feel that implementing genetically modified organisms in today’s society is helpful to human kind and the environment?

         a) Yes 

         b) No

High schoolers: a. 6 b. 4

College students: a. 5 b. 5

Adults: a. 2 b. 8

2.       Should companies consider how much profit a new product will generate, or should they be more concerned with how it might affect human kind?

         a) Profit

         b) The affects to humankind

High schoolers: a. 1 b. 9

College students: a. 0 b. 10

Adults: a. 0 b. 10

3.       Should genetically modified organisms be assimilated into the natural environment?

         a) Yes

         b) No

         c) Why would it matter?

High schoolers: a. 0 b. 6 c. 4

College students: a. 1 b. 8 c. 1

Adults: a. 0 b. 8 c. 2

4.       Genetic modification of which organism do you believe to be more ethical, if you had to choose?

         a) Plants

         b) Animals

High schoolers: a. 9 b. 1

College students: a. 10 b. 0

Adults: a. 10 b. 0

***When asked why for their decisions, all but one (regarding the high school student who chose animals) basically replied that genetically modifying plants is more ethical because they are in a vegetative state and do not breath, have a beating heart or working brain, etc.

5.       Briefly explain what you know about genetically modified organisms.

High schoolers and College students: Most replied with what they knew only about genetically modified plants as opposed to animals. Only a few came up with instances were animals were considered to be GMOs, specifically a certain sheep that was altered to became resistant to a certain virus. Other than this, most responses (only 2 high schoolers and 1 college student claimed they didn't know anything) talked about how plants are altered to contain their own pesticides to kill off or deter pests.

Adults: Many did not know almost anything about GMOs, as many of their choices were basically opinion based; only 2 adults replied with responses similar to that which the high schoolers and college students gave (pertaining to the pesticides within plants). 4 adults claimed that GMOs were just inherently bad but didn't say anything else. Another 4 didn't know anything.

Conclusion: Based off the information I have gathered from my poll, I have gathered that high school students and college students have a higher base knowledge of the implantation genetically modified organisms in today’s society than that of the adults, who mostly seem to be more opinionated without supportive information instead. I could possibly attribute this to the fact that such a recent issue of genetically modifying organisms is probably more prominent as a topic of discussion in schooling systems now; I know that in my environmental science class, this topic was actually heavily debated on for a full class period. In this way, the younger demographics are more learned in this field and will have better fact-based opinions and beliefs in regards to such a technique. Even though adults may have more life experience, my survey proved that most tend to be ignorant on this subject. In general, high school students and college students were more accepting of the use of genetically modified organisms, whereas adults were opposed to the idea. This data I collected seems to reject Atwood’s message in her novel; Oryx and Crake portrays the use and later outbreak of GMOs as a disaster for the environment and humankind, and seems to warn today’s society of such dangers that the modification of such organisms can potentially cause. However, the majority of my polls seemed to think that there was nothing inherently wrong with GMOs, as we have been using them for years and nothing bad seemed to have happened yet.