Apples compared to Apples: Attitudes towards cisgenic and transgenic breeds

Genetically modified (gm) crops are disliked by a majority of the population in most European countries. Until now, it has not been known whether the same lack of acceptance that is known to apply to transgenic crops will apply to cisgenic crops - plant breeds produced using gene technology, but containing no DNA foreign to their species. To study a potential difference in acceptance, we conducted a survey using the actual case of fire blight - a disease affecting several species of fruit trees - as a context for our questions. Five different phytosanitary measures against fire blight were proposed to the respondents, including cisgenic and transgenic apple breeds and treatment with the antibiotic streptomycin. The respondents (n=665), a random sample from the Swiss population, were asked about their attitudes, the effectiveness they expected of each of the measures, and their willingness to consume the produced apples. Only about 40 % of the respondents distinguished between cisgenic and transgenic apples when rating them. This group tended to favor the cisgenic apple breeds not only to the transgenic ones but also to the option of antibiotic treatments. Structural equation models were used to test the dependence of the attitude towards the phytosanitary measure on the other two factors. This analysis revealed analogies between the (dis-)acceptance of gm breeds and antibiotic treatments: in both cases, the expected effectiveness of the measures had little or no impact on the subject’s overall judgment.