Abstract
This article discusses results of a questionnaire survey of 156 university students in Israel and Austria examining reactions towards the Belated Twins scenario, which entails the artificial twinning of embryos of which one is immediately carried to term while the other one is born later. The scenario resembles a case of human reproductive cloning in terms of result (the creation of genetically identical individuals in a time-delayed manner) but it involves gamete fusion like "natural" reproduction. By means of qualitative text analysis we discuss the core themes mobilized both in support and opposition to the scenario. While Israeli and Austrian respondents held similar general attitudes (about half were in favour of legalizing Belated Twins, while about a third opposed it), they drew partly on different arguments to arrive at their conclusions. In both groups, uncertainty stemming from "novel" elements in the scenario was regularly interpreted as negatively exacerbating existing issues.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 435-451 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Public Understanding of Science |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jul 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Belated Twins scenario
- Human reproductive cloning
- Public attitudes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)