Open Collections

Description

Biotechnologies are being developed in animal agriculture to address disease and other challenges, and understanding public acceptance of these technologies is essential to inform technology development. We conducted a survey to investigate acceptance of two biotechnologies: antimicrobial peptides (AMP) and gene editing (GE). Structural equation modeling for North American participants (n = 1,340) showed trust in institutions had the greatest effect on acceptance through indirect effects of perceived benefit and risk, and we found a direct effect of trust on acceptance. Participants had higher levels of trust in institutions and perceived AMP to be more beneficial, acceptable, and less risky compared to GE. In open-ended responses, participants argued that both biotechnologies could improve or harm animal welfare, weighed implications for disease management, described benefits for humans, and discussed their trust in the institutions behind technology development. These results offer insight into views about different biotechnologies in animal agriculture, and support communication between technology developers and publics.