This article discusses a range of recent major surveys of public attitudes toward biotechnology. The authors identify a number of problematic features of the surveys: the use of predominantly consumerist rather than civic conception of public discourse; the assumption of a unitary "general public," a "cognitive deficit" approach to public understanding of science; and the presumption of a politically neutral and instrumentalist model of science and technology. The authors then examine some alternative approaches to exploring perceptions of biotechnology among a diversity of interested publics, including more focused dialogical surveys, consensus conferences, and parliamentary inquiries.After the uncertainties of the 1980s, the biotechnology industry is on the threshold of fulfilling its promise to usher in a new era of bio-industrial, agricultural, and medical processes, techniques, and consumer products.' 1 Biotechnology has become a vital factor in national strategies for economic development into the twenty-first century, with many countries identifying it as a core technology area in achieving international competitiveness and sustained economic growth (Australian Science and Technology Council 1993). At the same time, it is generally recognized by governments and industry leaders that a key factor in the successful development of biotechnology-based industries is public confidence in the new products and pro-AUTHORS' NOTE: This research is part of a project exploring attitudes toward and perceptions of newly developed biotechnology products such as the &dquo;Flavr-Savr&dquo; tomato, the use of the porcine-somatatrophin (PST), and therapies for cystic fibrosis among various &dquo;interested pub-lics&dquo; (see Schibeci et al. 1994Schibeci et al. , 1995.

An important aspect of any meaningful public discussion about developments in gene technology is the provision of opportunities for interested publics to engage in sociable public discourse with other lay people and with experts. This article reports on a series of peer group conversations conducted in late 1996 and early 1997 with sixteen community groups in Perth, Western Australia, interested in gene therapy technology. With the case of cystic fibrosis as a particular focus, and using background resource material as a stimulus for discussion, the participating groups explored a range of value issues arising from the new genetic medicine. This more discursive context enabled participants to express a number of background or life-world concerns about genetic medicine, concerns that are often obscured by the dominant biomedical and bioethical discourses.

This project tested a two-way model of communication between lay groups and experts about genetic medicine in Perth, Western Australia. Focus group discussion with community group participants was followed by a communication workshop between community group participants and experts. Four groups of concerns or themes emergedfrom discussion: clinical considerations; legislative concerns; research priorities, and ethical and wider considerations. Community group concerns are not always met by the actions of "experts". This is, in part, because of the differing life-worlds of each group. However, the communication workshop showed the potential of two-way communication for both lay and expert members in understanding the others'viewpoint. Further, the approach developed here offers one possible way for community groups to participate in a substantial way in policy formulation processes.

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.

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