Association of attitudes towards genetically modified food among young adults and their referent persons

Public perception of plant gene technologies worldwide in the light of food security

Achieving global food security is becoming increasingly challenging and many stakeholders around the world are searching for new ways to reach this demanding goal. Here we demonstrate examples of genetically modified and genome edited plants introduced to the market in different world regions. Transgenic crops are regulated based on the characteristics of the product in many countries including the United States and Canada, while the European Union, India, China and others regulate process-based i.e. on how the product was made. We also present the public perception of state-of-the-art plant gene technologies in different regions of the world in the past 20 years. The results of literature analysis show that the public in Europe and North America is more familiar with the notion of genome editing and genetically modified organisms than the public in other world regions.

Association Between Socioeconomic Status, Food Security, and Dietary Diversity Among Sociology Students at the Central University of Venezuela

Venezuela is currently in a difficult social, political, and economic situation that has exposed people to many factors, including socioeconomic disadvantages, food insecurity, and lack of access to healthy and nutritious foods. These factors are associated with low dietary diversity, especially for economically dependent university students. In this study, we aimed to identify the associations between socioeconomic status, food security, and dietary diversity among sociology students at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). This cross-sectional study was conducted between June and November 2016 on a simple random sample of 270 students. Indicators were calculated using data collected by the Mendez-Castellano socioeconomic questionnaire, the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Projects Scale of Food Security adapted and validated for Venezuelans (Cronbach's alpha = 0.898), and the validated dietary diversity scale for individuals. The rate response was 100%. It was observed that most of the sample is located between the socioeconomic status of the rich and middle class (82.6%), presents some degree of food insecurity (85.9%), and maintains a diet with low dietary diversity (54.8%). Our main finding is that the socioeconomic status in the households of those students is not associated with either their food security level or their dietary diversity, but these constructs are related in a significant statistical way. In particular, the odds of a student household having a diverse diet instead of a monotonous diet are 3.92 (95% CI: 2.91; 4.93) times greater for those in food security instead of moderate/severe food insecurity. It is concluded that these students have a multifactorial critical food situation, in which the food right is violated, which could affect their permanence and academic performance.

Understanding opposition to human gene editing A role for pathogen disgust sensitivity?

Recent advances in gene editing technology promise much for medical advances and human well-being. However, in parallel domains, there have been objections to the use of such biotechnologies. Moreover, the psychological factors that govern the willingness to use gene editing technology have been underexplored to date. In this registered report, we sought to test whether pathogen disgust sensitivity is linked with opposition to gene editing. U.K.-based adult participants (N = 347) were recruited to this study. Gene editing attitudes reflected two largely distinct latent factors concerning enhancing human traits and treating medical disorders. In contrast to prediction, pathogen disgust sensitivity was related to greater support for gene editing in both of these domains. This result suggests that gene editing, at least in the current study, is not viewed as pathogenic, or that the perceived benefits of gene editing outweigh any perceived pathogen risk.