Societal and Commercial Issues Affecting the Future of Biotechnology in the United States: A Survey of Researchers' Perceptions

摘要

A 1995 survey of 1,257 U.S. recombinant DNA researchers assessed how they view outside factors affecting their work, including public and media attention; regulation; funding; international competition; commercialization of research and university/industry collaboration; health care reform efforts; and patenting laws and policies. Generally, respondents view public attention as having had positive effects on biotechnology progress, but they are concerned about the decrease in R&D funding, especially from government; the loss lof scientific openness and basic-research quality caused by academic/industrial collaboration; international competition, particularly from Japan and Germany; overly stringent regulations that control R&D processes rather than products; inefficient regulatory agencies focused on irrelevant criteria; and threats to basic biomedical research from the short-term cost focus of managed-care companies.