Chapman, R;
Likhanov, M;
Selita, F;
Zakharov, I;
Smith-Woolley, E;
Kovas, Y;
(2019)
New literacy challenge for the twenty-first century: genetic knowledge is poor even among well educated.
Journal of Community Genetics
, 10
(1)
pp. 73-84.
10.1007/s12687-018-0363-7.
Preview |
Text
Smith-Woolley VoR Chapman2019_Article_NewLiteracyChallengeForTheTwen.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
We live in an age of rapidly advancing genetic research. This research is generating new knowledge that has implications for personal health and well-being. The present study assessed the level of genetic knowledge and personal engagement with genetics in a large sample (N = 5404) of participants. Participants received secondary education in 78 countries, with the largest samples from Russia, the UK and the USA. The results showed significant group differences in genetic knowledge between different countries, professions, education levels and religious affiliations. Overall, genetic knowledge was poor. The questions were designed to assess basic genetic literacy. However, only 1.2% of participants answered all 18 questions correctly, and the average score was 65.5%. Genetic knowledge was related to peoples' attitudes towards genetics. For example, those with greater genetic knowledge were on average more willing to use genetic knowledge for their personal health management. Based on the results, the paper proposes a number of immediate steps that societies can implement to empower the public to benefit from ever-advancing genetic knowledge.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | New literacy challenge for the twenty-first century: genetic knowledge is poor even among well educated |
| Location: | Germany |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s12687-018-0363-7 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-018-0363-7 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Demographic differences, Genetic knowledge, Genetic literacy, Genetic testing, Health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10059129 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
