Guardians of our future: New Zealand mothers and sustainable biotechnology

In year two of a three-year project, New Zealand mothers of children aged 10 and under were interviewed to examine the social, cultural and spiritual dimensions of biotechnology. Ten focus groups were conducted and used “sustainable biotechnology” as a center-point for discussion, concentrating on four different biotechnology scenarios. The findings of the research were consistent with year one and with findings on the general public throughout the world. Further insights revealed in year two suggested that women saw their and future generations' quality of life as intimately intertwined with the health of the environment, making the environment particularly important. Because of this, anything that had potentially negative consequences on the ecosystem was perceived to pose a threat to the woman, her family and future generations. The need for strict controls to be put in place by regulatory and research authorities was therefore seen as an important step in allaying her fears. True partnership and participation was seen as critical, since it would only be by such means that mothers would feel they were in control of the safety of their own children.