International Comparison between Japan, the U.S.A., and Germany on consumer attitudes toward genome editing technology-applied foods and their governance

Abstract

Agricultural genome editing is now entering a practical application stage. However, hitherto, there has been little research into or comparisons of international consumer understanding of these genome editing innovations. Therefore, a comparative Japanese, American, and German study was conducted using the same web-based questionnaire to elucidate the issues surrounding genome editing governance, the current state of regulations, and personal opinions about the use of agricultural genome editing technology. It was found that the Japanese felt that there should be strict regulations, and the Germans had the greatest concern about the use of the technology.