Leonie A. MarksUniversity of Missouri-Columbia Agricultural biotechnology is a fundamental technology platform that is promising to transform the world food system and bring about an abundance of healthier foods and improve the environment. Yet consumers in some parts of the world have…

Baruch Fischhoff and Ilya FischhoffCarnegie Mellon University & Princeton University Surveys eliciting opinions about biotechnology applications suggest the following conclusions. (1) People distinguish among biotechnologies. (2) Different people have different views about biotechnologies. (3) People have limited knowledge about biotechnologies—and know it….

Lee WilkinsUniversity of Missouri-Columbia This essay outlines some of the major social-science based understandings in the fields of risk assessment, risk perception, and risk communication emphasizing the theoretical strengths and weaknesses of these various approaches to “thinking about” risk. The essay emphasizes…

Jon PalfremanPalfreman Film Group, Inc. Using case studies from nuclear waste disposal to genetically modified organisms, this paper examines the art and science of risk communication. It argues that effective risk communication must not only take account of the psychology of how…

Katija Blaine and Douglas PowellUniversity of Guelph, Ontario, Canada Assessing the scientific risks of agri-food technologies must be coupled with appropriate, research-based risk management and communication activities, in order to provide consumers, the media, and others with a balanced, science-based assessment of…

Pamela J. HinesScience Science controversies can be distinguished from one another on whether the issue of controversy is a matter of ethics, a matter needing further scientific research, or a need to make public policy decisions on the basis of incomplete information….

Robert A. LoganUniversity of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism This essay explains that some of the news media’s challenges and problems in covering agrobiotechnology might be linked to structural organization and traditions within the nation’s newsrooms. Within serious news organizations, food biotechnology news…

Leonie A. Marks and Nicholas KalaitzandonakesUniversity of Missouri-Columbia The media is often accused of sensationalism and bias in its reporting of agrobiotechnology. In this paper, we examine United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) media coverage of agrobiotechnology. Our findings confirm bias…

Roger W. KruegerMonsanto Company Since the first commercial release of a bioengineered crop in 1996, planted acres of enhanced crops have increased steadily each year. Yet, public perceptions and knowledge of the benefits of this technology have not kept pace with grower…

Wanki Moon and Siva K. BalasubramanianSouthern Illinois University Carbondale This study uses consumer survey data collected in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) to examine the linkages between subjective risk and benefit perceptions and willingness-to-pay a premium for non-genetically modified…