Mitchellmemo30

Event: Where the public meets the scientists (HFEA public consultation) The point I am trying to get at is the different attempt by scientists to shift the discourse from “horrors” to “hopes.” (the quotes from the public are from the actual HFEA consultation)

A Glasgow woman stood up, //“Can you really guarantee that there will be no abnormality in the stem cells that are produced combining humans and animals//?” Another man raised his fist in the air and exclaimed, //“This surely follows on from Nazi experiments during World War II!”//

Ewww, these scientists are done for, I thought to myself (assuming I would soon be treated to some train-wreck style entertainment).

Calmly, however, a scientist took to the microphone and very slowly proceeded through the future benefits of his research; he was like scientist Jesus promising unheard of fruits if they, the masses, simply waited patiently for the day of promise to arrive.

This certainly had some affect on the public; a London man stated afterwards, //“If I thought it would have some benefit I would go for it.”// Certainly not everyone was as convinced; another man proclaimed, //“I think it’s fraudulent to tell people with diseases that you will generate useful date.”//

All told, the scientists’ tactics worked; shifting initial public reaction from one of negativity to sixty-one percent support for the research (based on the poll performed at the end of the consultation versus the initial poll). I learned scientists are no longer just tinkerers, but now well-versed public relations officers whose factory of fact making and artifact construction links itself with an array of traveling salespeople.