Engineering biology public trust survey findings
Published 29 November 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/engineering-biology-public-trust-survey-findings/engineering-biology-public-trust-survey-findings
Deltapoll interviewed 3,000 UK adults online between 9 and 19 August 2024.
The data have been weighted to be representative of the UK adult population as a whole.
Executive summary
In our National Vision for Engineering Biology, we committed to developing robust insights into public attitudes towards engineering biology. This is the first time that the UK public are being asked about five applications of engineering biology. This is a starting point, we will continue to build public awareness of the potential of this technology and use public attitudes to guide our work.
A sizeable majority of respondents feel comfortable about using new and emerging technologies on a day-to-day basis, but relatively few can offer even a partial explanation of what engineering biology is.
Though only a minority of respondents had previously heard of the use of engineering biology across the different applications tested, there is a near-overwhelming belief that such applications would be useful. Similarly, large majorities are comfortable with each of the specific applications and believe that they will generally be a positive thing for society.
There is also a widely-held belief that engineering biology will have a positive impact on science overall over the next ten years.
When it comes to the various possible applications of engineering biology, the top priority for respondents is that it would be verified as safe for consumption and use – and this was true in all examples that were tested.
Researching a range of different statements shows strong agreement that transparency is important and that it should be made clear when engineering biology is used. There is also agreement that not enough is currently known about engineering biology and that more information should be provided to the public.
Though it is broadly agreed that the government is well placed to make decisions about the use of engineering biology, there is also agreement that the public should be involved in those decisions too.
Throughout the survey, there were, generally speaking, few meaningful differences between the results of men compared to women. Differences between age groups are more common, but very rarely do they impact on the overall narrative of the results at an aggregate level.
Societal challenges and norms
Of the list of issues facing the country that were provided, Cost of living comes top – and by some distance, with more than two thirds (67%) selecting it in their top three. Immigration and health came second and third (43% and 41% respectively) to form a clear second tier of issues. The economy generally is fourth 33% with crime next on 24%. No other issue was selected in the top three by more than one in five respondents.
The following list of important issues currently facing the country, which would you say are the three most important?
The pattern of responses was the same across all age groups, with the exception of those aged 65+. Among the oldest respondents, immigration was the issue most likely to be selected in the top three, chosen by nearly six in ten (58%) of that age group. The cost of living is then in second place, followed by health (54% and 51% respectively).
In contrast, only a quarter (25%) of both 18- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 34-year-olds list immigration in their top three issues.
Immigration comes second on the list of issues for men, while health holds that position for women. In both cases, however, it is the cost of living that is top, although the proportion of women who select it in their top three is noticeably higher than for men (72% versus 60% respectively).
As with all quantitative research, the precise timing of fieldwork has the potential to exert an influence on responses, which should always be only interpreted as a snapshot of that particular moment in time. In this particular instance, the specific and unusual circumstances surrounding the anti-immigration riots that began in the first week of August 2024 may have led to crime being relatively high in this instance. Without further data it is, however, not possible to confirm this.
Among the different forms of technology used day-to-day that were tested, it is smartphones with which the largest proportion of respondents are comfortable (93%). This is just ahead of contactless payments (89%), TV streaming services (88%) and self-service checkouts (82%). Only video conferencing showed a noticeably lower proportion of respondents who were comfortable – but at 65%, it is still a sizeable majority.
At nearly three quarters (72%), the proportion of respondents comfortable using new and emerging technologies falls in between video conferencing and tv streaming services.
How comfortable, if at all, would you say you generally feel about using each of the following on a day-to-day basis?
| Smartphones (%) | Contactless payments (%) | TV streaming services (%) | Self-service checkouts (%) | New and emerging technologies (%) | Video conferencing (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not at all comfortable | 3% | 4% | 4% | 7% | 8% | 12% |
| Not very comfortable | 3% | 6% | 6% | 11% | 16% | 19% |
| Fairly comfortable | 29% | 32% | 27% | 33% | 49% | 39% |
| Very comfortable | 64% | 57% | 61% | 49% | 23% | 26% |
| Don’t know | 1% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 4% | 4% |
| Not comfortable (all) | 6% | 10% | 10% | 18% | 24% | 31% |
| Comfortable (all) | 93% | 89% | 88% | 82% | 72% | 65% |
| NET | +87% | +79% | +78% | +64% | +48% | +34% |
How comfortable, if at all, would you say you generally feel about using each of the following on a day-to-day basis?
TV streaming services (for example Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus)
Video conferencing (for example Zoom, Teams, Skype)
Smart phones (for example Apple iPhone, Android)
Self-service checkouts
Contactless payments
How comfortable, if at all, would you say you generally feel about using new and emerging technologies on a day-to-day basis?
Generally speaking, older respondents are less likely to be comfortable with using the specific forms of technology tested, though in some cases those differences are not significant. Similarly, it was older respondents who are less likely to feel comfortable about using new and emerging technologies on a day-to-day basis. More than eight in ten (84%) 18- to 24-year-olds say they are comfortable to some degree, including nearly a third (31%) who are very comfortable. These numbers fall consistently across the age groups, with just over half (54%) of those aged 65+ saying they are comfortable, including fewer than one in seven (13%) who are very comfortable.
Despite differences in age, respondents across all demographic groups are generally comfortable with different uses of new and emerging technology, regardless of the specifics. It is important to keep in mind, however, that this survey was conducted online, among respondents who had signed up to take part in surveys over the internet. It is not possible to be certain what the responses would be for others in the UK population, but it is relatively safe to assume that their level of comfort would be less – at least to some degree in some instances.
Surveying respondents who are not registered on research panels is possible, but it is expensive. Surveying those respondents who do not use the internet is significantly more difficult and therefore many orders of magnitude more expensive. Though it is likely that this group would be the least comfortable, they also only represent a small proportion of the UK adult population.
A majority of more than six in ten (61%) have never heard of engineering biology, with just under a further quarter (24%) who have heard of it, but could not explain what it is. Just over one in ten (11%) could give at least a partial explanation of what it is.
This survey instrument did not, however, explore what respondents thought engineering biology actually was. The self-reported nature of this survey means that it is possible, in a question such as this, that some may have believed that they knew what engineering biology was, but were mistaking it for something else.
Have you ever heard of the term engineering biology?
Younger respondents are most likely to have heard of engineering biology, with more than six in ten (61%) 18- to 24-year-olds having heard of it, but only just over one in five (21%) of that age group are able to give even a partial explanation of what it is. This compares to fewer than one in five (19%) of those aged 65+ having heard of it, including fewer than one in twenty (4%) who can provide at least a partial explanation.
As is often the case with knowledge questions such as this, women are more likely to explicitly say they have not heard of something when compared to men (66% v 56% respectively).
After reading short explanations for a list of possible applications, a sizeable majority of respondents were not aware of engineering biology being used in any of those applications. Awareness was highest for healthcare along with agriculture and food growth, where nearly three in ten respondents (29%) had heard of engineering biology being used in such applications. At the other end of the scale, only around one in six respondents (16%) had heard of engineering biology being used to produce new chemicals and materials.
Before reading this explanation, had you heard of engineering biology being used in…?
| Healthcare (%) | Agriculture and Food Growth (%) | Low Carbon Fuels (%) | Recycle Natural Waste (%) | New Chemicals and Materials (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 29% | 29% | 23% | 21% | 16% |
| No | 64% | 65% | 71% | 72% | 78% |
| Don’t know | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% |
Before reading this explanation, had you heard of engineering biology being used in healthcare?
Before reading this explanation, had you heard of engineering biology being used to produce new chemicals and materials?
Before reading this explanation, had you heard of engineering biology being used to produce low carbon fuels?
Before reading this explanation, had you heard of engineering biology being used to produce agriculture and food growth?
Before reading this explanation, had you heard of engineering biology being used to recycle natural waste?
Across all five applications, the patterns of response across the different demographic groups are very similar. In all cases, a large majority had not heard of engineering biology being used, but the size of this proportion is always greater for women than it is for men. Similarly, in all cases younger respondents are more likely to have heard of engineering biology being used, and vice versa for older respondents. 18- to 24-year-old respondents are always the most likely to have heard of its use and 65+ respondents the least likely.
Across all the applications listed, more than three quarters of all respondents thought it would be useful to use engineering biology. This includes sizable minorities who thought it would be very useful. To recycle natural waste was the application with the greatest proportion of respondents who thought the use of engineering biology would be useful (86%), but even with agriculture and food growth, and new chemicals and materials, the proportion who said it would be useful was 78%, despite those being the applications with the lowest percentage.
Even after reading the explanation, however, the proportion of respondents who said they did not know about the usefulness of the use of engineering biology was at least around one in ten.
Having read the above explanation, how useful, if at all, do you think it would be to use engineering biology in…?
| Healthcare (%) | Agriculture and food growth (%) | Low carbon fuels (%) | Recycle natural waste (%) | New chemicals and materials (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not at all useful | 1% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| Not very useful | 3% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 6% |
| Fairly useful | 37% | 45% | 40% | 40% | 44% |
| Very useful | 48% | 33% | 44% | 46% | 34% |
| Don’t know | 10% | 13% | 10% | 9% | 14% |
| Not useful (all) | 4% | 9% | 6% | 5% | 8% |
| Useful (all) | 85% | 78% | 84% | 86% | 78% |
| NET | +81% | +69% | +78% | +81% | +70% |
EB5b. Having read the above explanation, how useful, if at all, do you think it would be to use engineering biology in healthcare?
EB6b. Having read the above explanation, how useful, if at all, do you think it would be to use engineering biology to produce new chemicals and materials?
EB7b. Having read the above explanation, how useful, if at all, do you think it would be to use engineering biology to produce low carbon fuels?
EB8b. Having read the above explanation, how useful, if at all, do you think it would be to use engineering biology in agriculture and food growth?
EB9b. Having read the above explanation, how useful, if at all, do you think it would be to use engineering biology to recycle natural waste?
Across all applications listed, the proportion of respondents who said the use of engineering biology would be useful is largely similar. 18- to 24-year-old respondents are, however, the least likely to say it would be very useful, consistently across all the applications.
In addition to a widespread belief that the use of engineering biology would be useful in all applications listed, sizeable proportions of respondents also feel comfortable with such uses. Four of the five applications have more than seven in ten respondents saying they would be comfortable with engineering biology being used, with it being used to recycle natural waste as the application where the greatest proportion of respondents feel comfortable (79%).
Even its use in agriculture and food growth, where the proportion of respondents who feel comfortable was smallest, nearly two third of respondents (63%) are comfortable. Of note is the proportion who are very comfortable, which at just under one in five (19%) is noticeably lower when it comes to this application compared to the others.
How comfortable, if at all, do you feel you would be with the use of engineering biology in…?
| Healthcare (%) | Agriculture and food growth (%) | Low carbon fuels (%) | Recycle natural waste (%) | New chemicals and materials (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not at all comfortable | 3% | 7% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Not very comfortable | 9% | 17% | 8% | 7% | 12% |
| Fairly comfortable | 46% | 44% | 45% | 47% | 46% |
| Very comfortable | 28% | 19% | 33% | 32% | 24% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 16% |
| Not comfortable (all) | 12% | 24% | 10% | 9% | 15% |
| Comfortable (all) | 74% | 63% | 78% | 79% | 70% |
| NET | +62% | +39% | +68% | +70% | +55% |
The proportion of respondents who feel they are not comfortable was broadly similar to the proportion of respondents who said they did not know, except in the case of use in agriculture and food growth, where nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) were not comfortable – the highest proportion by some distance.
EB5c. And how comfortable, if at all, do you feel you would be with the use of engineering biology in healthcare?
EB6c. And how comfortable, if at all, do you feel you would be with the use of engineering biology to produce new chemicals and materials?
EB7c. And how comfortable, if at all, do you feel you would be with the use of engineering biology to produce low carbon fuels?
EB8c. And how comfortable, if at all, do you feel you would be with the use of engineering biology in agriculture and food growth?
EB9c. And how comfortable, if at all, do you feel you would be with the use of engineering biology to recycle natural waste?
Across all five applications tested, there is little in the way of significant differences between the demographic groups when it comes to the proportion of respondents who are comfortable with the use of engineering biology. 18- to 24-year-old respondents tend, however, to be the age group least likely to feel very comfortable with the use of engineering biology.
When purchasing or using engineering biology derived products, the most important priority for respondents is that everything is verified as safe for consumption and use – this was the case across all applications.
Thinking of when you [item], which of the following is most important to you?
| Food products (%) | Healthcare products (%) | New chemicals and materials (%) | Low carbon fuels (%) | Recycled natural waste (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| It would be verified as safe for consumption and use | 36% | 39% | 36% | 24% | 31% |
| A low price | 20% | 13% | 14% | 20% | 16% |
| A high quality | 21% | 17% | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| Environmental friendly | 8% | 7% | 14% | 22% | 21% |
| Scientists and other experts would say positive things about it | 5% | 10% | 9% | 7% | 6% |
| People I trust would say positive things about it | 4% | 6% | 5% | 3% | 5% |
| There would be no alternative to it available | 2% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 5% | 7% | 9% | 7% |
When purchasing food products, the most important priorities for respondents are they are verified as safe (36%), high quality (21%) and low price (20%).
EB10a. Thinking of when you purchase food products, which of the following is most important to you?
When purchasing or using healthcare products, the most important priorities for respondents are that they are verified as safe (39%), high quality (17%) and low price (13%).
EB10b. Thinking of when you purchase or use healthcare products, which of the following is most important to you?
When purchasing or using products made with new chemicals or materials, the most important priorities for respondents are that they are verified as safe (36%), environmentally friendly (14%) and a low price (14%).
EB10c. Thinking of when you purchase or use products that are made with new chemicals or materials, which of the following is most important to you?
When purchasing or using products made with low carbon fuels, the most important priorities for respondents are that they are verified as safe (24%), environmentally friendly (22%) and low price (20%).
EB10d. Thinking of when you purchase or use low carbon fuels, which of the following is most important to you?
When purchasing or using products made with recycled natural waste, the most important priorities for respondents are that they are verified as safe (31%), environmentally friendly (21%) and low price (16%).
EB10e. Thinking of when you purchase or use products that are made with recycled natural waste, which of the following is most important to you?
Overall, the use of engineering biology is seen as a positive thing for society in health (76%), chemicals and materials (66%), low carbon fuels (77%), agriculture and food (68%) and waste and environment (78%).
EB11. Do you feel engineering biology would be an overall positive thing or an overall negative thing for society in general, for each of the following application areas?
| Health (%) | Chemicals and materials (%) | Low carbon fuels (%) | Agriculture and food (%) | Waste and environment (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A positive thing for society | 76% | 66% | 77% | 68% | 78% |
| A negative thing for society | 5% | 7% | 5% | 8% | 5% |
| It will make no difference to society | 8% | 12% | 8% | 10% | 9% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 15% | 10% | 14% | 8% |
EB11. Do you feel engineering biology would be an overall positive thing or an overall negative thing for society in general, for each of the following application areas? [Health]
EB11. Do you feel engineering biology would be an overall positive thing or an overall negative thing for society in general, for each of the following application areas? [Chemicals and materials]
EB11. Do you feel engineering biology would be an overall positive thing or an overall negative thing for society in general, for each of the following application areas? [Low carbon fuels]
EB11. Do you feel engineering biology would be an overall positive thing or an overall negative thing for society in general, for each of the following application areas? [Agriculture and food]
EB11. Do you feel engineering biology would be an overall positive thing or an overall negative thing for society in general, for each of the following application areas? [Waste and environment]
Across all applications tested and across all demographic groups, engineering biology is seen as a positive thing for society. Younger respondents, particularly those aged 18 to 24, are often the group where the proportion saying it is a positive thing is smaller, but the differences are rarely substantial. Even in the case of engineering biology in healthcare, where the smallest proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds think it is a positive thing, the proportion is still more than half (54%) and nearly three times the one in five (20%) who think it is a negative thing for society.
A very large majority of more than nine in ten (92%) believe it is important for regulations and standards to be in place to regulate how products are made using engineering biology, including just over half (51%) who think it is extremely important.
EB12. In your view, how important, if at all, is it for regulations and standards to be in place to regulate how products are made using engineering biology?
Across the different demographic groups there is little difference when it comes to the proportion of respondents who believe regulations and standards are important to some degree. There is, however, a difference in results between men and women when it comes to the proportion of respondents who believe regulations and standards being in place is extremely important (47% versus 54% respectively), but this difference is relatively minor.
Bigger differences can be seen across the age groups, where the proportion of respondents who believe regulations and standards being in place is extremely important ranges from three in ten (30%) 18- to 24-year-olds to seven in ten (70%) of those aged 65+.
Of all the statements tested, the one that attracts the highest level of agreement was ‘Engineering biology has the potential to be good for society’ with more than three quarters of respondents (76%) agreeing. All but one of the nine statements tested has agreement from at least half of respondents. ‘The Government is best placed to make decisions about what engineering biology should and should not be used for’ is the statement with the lowest proportion of respondents agreeing, but even in this instance 45% agreed compared to 24% who disagreed.
EB13. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?
| Disagree (all) (%) | Agree (all) (%) | Don’t know (%) | NET | Mean (1 to 7) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering biology has the potential to be good for society | 6% | 76% | 5% | +70 | 5.5 |
| I would like to know more about products made using engineering biology so I can make a better-informed decision | 8% | 76% | 3% | +68 | 5.47 |
| I would want to know that a product was made using engineering biology before purchasing, using or consuming it | 8% | 72% | 4% | +64 | 5.45 |
| My view of engineering biology depends on what it’s being used for, i.e., healthcare, chemicals and materials, low carbon fuels, agriculture and food, waste and environment | 8% | 71% | 5% | +63 | 5.36 |
| More information about engineering biology would change my opinion on purchasing, using or consuming products made using engineering biology | 8% | 67% | 7% | +59 | 5.22 |
| The public should have a say over what, if any, applications engineering biology is and isn’t used for | 13% | 62% | 3% | +49 | 5.01 |
| Engineering biology is currently useful for creating products that benefit me | 10% | 54% | 16% | +44 | 4.95 |
| The government is best placed to make decisions about what engineering biology should and should not be used for | 24% | 45% | 8% | +21 | 4.36 |
EB13. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? My view of engineering biology depends on what it’s being used for, i.e., healthcare, chemicals and materials, low carbon fuels, agriculture and food, waste and environment
Engineering biology is currently useful for creating products that benefit me
Engineering biology has the potential to be good for society
I would want to know that a product was made using engineering biology before purchasing, using or consuming it
I do not know enough about engineering biology to make an informed decision on whether I should purchase or consume products made using engineering biology
I would like to know more about products made using engineering biology so I can make a better-informed decision
More information about engineering biology would change my opinion on purchasing, using or consuming products made using engineering biology
The public should have a say over what, if any, applications engineering biology is and isn’t used for
The government is best placed to make decisions about what engineering biology should and should not be used for
Across all statements tested, the patterns of response for the different demographic groups were mostly very similar. The level of disagreement is very low, with little in the way of differences between gender, and infrequent differences across age groups. Where there were variations between age groups, younger respondents were less likely to agree with a statement, but the differences are always small and do not change the overall picture of the responses.
When respondents were asked to give a score out of ten in terms of the impact engineering biology would have on science in the next ten years, taking everything into account, they gave a mean score of 7.1 – where 0 is a very negative impact and 10 is a very positive impact. Nearly three quarters of respondents (73%) gave a score of 6 or above.
EB14. Taking everything into account, on a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 means a very negative impact and 10 means a very positive impact, based on your current knowledge and understanding, what impact do you think engineering biology will have overall on science in the next ten years?
The pattern of response is largely unchanged across the different demographic groups. There is no difference in the mean response of men and women and while the mean response increases with age, the differences across the age groups are not substantial.