Public attitudes to gene technology: the case of the MacGregor's® tomato

This paper reports the pilot phase of a three-year project, 'Public perceptions of biotechnology', conducted in Perth, Western Australia. The purposes of this pilot investigation were (1) to develop a computer-based method for investigating public perceptions of biotechnology, and (2) to report the perceptions of four 'interested publics' about the Flavr Savr™/MacGregor's® tomato, a genetically engineered tomato. By 'interested publics' we mean members of groups who are not experts in the field, but have an interest because of their membership of the group. We developed a computer-based database of information about this tomato to stimulate, in interviews, respondents' articulation of their knowledge and perceptions of biotechnology. The database was a multimedia package, based on a HyperCard stack on a Macintosh PowerBook 180C, with information about the tomato in ten different categories. The data suggest that our methodology has the potential to provide a fruitful approach to exploring the background knowledges and perceptions of different publics. © 1997 IOP Publishing Ltd and The Science Museum.