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18 February 2011: Nick Allum's research suggests a new era in the relations between science and society

Nick Allum and colleagues from 10 European countries, have just published an article in Nature Biotechnology using the latest 2010 Eurobarometer survey on the Life Sciences and Biotechnology to analyse public attitudes towards science and technology.

Nick said: "The latest 2010 Eurobarometer survey, based on representative samples from 32 European countries, hints at a new era in the relations between science and society. We see less criticism of technology based on distrust in government and industry; more enthusiasm for novel technologies; and a more sophisticated appraisal of what technologies offer in terms of benefits, safety and sustainability. Europeans want regulation in the public interest and want a voice in such regulation when social values are at stake; we highlight an emerging European landscape of social value differences that shape people's views of technologies."

A preprint of the article is available.