The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational Study
BackgroundIn November 2018, a Chinese researcher reported that his team had applied clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats or associated protein 9 to delete the gene C-C chemokine receptor type 5 from embryos and claimed that the 2 newborns would have lifetime im...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2022/3/e31687 |
| _version_ | 1797735246266892288 |
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| author | Congning Ni Zhiyu Wan Chao Yan Yongtai Liu Ellen Wright Clayton Bradley Malin Zhijun Yin |
| author_facet | Congning Ni Zhiyu Wan Chao Yan Yongtai Liu Ellen Wright Clayton Bradley Malin Zhijun Yin |
| author_sort | Congning Ni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundIn November 2018, a Chinese researcher reported that his team had applied clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats or associated protein 9 to delete the gene C-C chemokine receptor type 5 from embryos and claimed that the 2 newborns would have lifetime immunity from HIV infection, an event referred to as #GeneEditedBabies on social media platforms. Although this event stirred a worldwide debate on ethical and legal issues regarding clinical trials with embryonic gene sequences, the focus has mainly been on academics and professionals. However, how the public, especially stratified by geographic region and culture, reacted to these issues is not yet well-understood.
ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to examine web-based posts about the #GeneEditedBabies event and characterize and compare the public’s stance across social media platforms with different user bases.
MethodsWe used a set of relevant keywords to search for web-based posts in 4 worldwide or regional mainstream social media platforms: Sina Weibo (China), Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube. We applied structural topic modeling to analyze the main discussed topics and their temporal trends. On the basis of the topics we found, we designed an annotation codebook to label 2000 randomly sampled posts from each platform on whether a supporting, opposing, or neutral stance toward this event was expressed and what the major considerations of those posts were if a stance was described. The annotated data were used to compare stances and the language used across the 4 web-based platforms.
ResultsWe collected >220,000 posts published by approximately 130,000 users regarding the #GeneEditedBabies event. Our results indicated that users discussed a wide range of topics, some of which had clear temporal trends. Our results further showed that although almost all experts opposed this event, many web-based posts supported this event. In particular, Twitter exhibited the largest number of posts in opposition (701/816, 85.9%), followed by Sina Weibo (968/1140, 84.91%), Reddit (550/898, 61.2%), and YouTube (567/1078, 52.6%). The primary opposing reason was rooted in ethical concerns, whereas the primary supporting reason was based on the expectation that such technology could prevent the occurrence of diseases in the future. Posts from these 4 platforms had different language uses and patterns when they expressed stances on the #GeneEditedBabies event.
ConclusionsThis research provides evidence that posts on web-based platforms can offer insights into the public’s stance on gene editing techniques. However, these stances vary across web-based platforms and often differ from those raised by academics and policy makers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:56:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-245c130240724a83850906c73505f65e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:56:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-245c130240724a83850906c73505f65e2023-08-28T21:03:49ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712022-03-01243e3168710.2196/31687The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational StudyCongning Nihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6950-6948Zhiyu Wanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3752-5778Chao Yanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6719-1388Yongtai Liuhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0279-3644Ellen Wright Claytonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0308-4110Bradley Malinhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3040-5175Zhijun Yinhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3075-1337 BackgroundIn November 2018, a Chinese researcher reported that his team had applied clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats or associated protein 9 to delete the gene C-C chemokine receptor type 5 from embryos and claimed that the 2 newborns would have lifetime immunity from HIV infection, an event referred to as #GeneEditedBabies on social media platforms. Although this event stirred a worldwide debate on ethical and legal issues regarding clinical trials with embryonic gene sequences, the focus has mainly been on academics and professionals. However, how the public, especially stratified by geographic region and culture, reacted to these issues is not yet well-understood. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to examine web-based posts about the #GeneEditedBabies event and characterize and compare the public’s stance across social media platforms with different user bases. MethodsWe used a set of relevant keywords to search for web-based posts in 4 worldwide or regional mainstream social media platforms: Sina Weibo (China), Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube. We applied structural topic modeling to analyze the main discussed topics and their temporal trends. On the basis of the topics we found, we designed an annotation codebook to label 2000 randomly sampled posts from each platform on whether a supporting, opposing, or neutral stance toward this event was expressed and what the major considerations of those posts were if a stance was described. The annotated data were used to compare stances and the language used across the 4 web-based platforms. ResultsWe collected >220,000 posts published by approximately 130,000 users regarding the #GeneEditedBabies event. Our results indicated that users discussed a wide range of topics, some of which had clear temporal trends. Our results further showed that although almost all experts opposed this event, many web-based posts supported this event. In particular, Twitter exhibited the largest number of posts in opposition (701/816, 85.9%), followed by Sina Weibo (968/1140, 84.91%), Reddit (550/898, 61.2%), and YouTube (567/1078, 52.6%). The primary opposing reason was rooted in ethical concerns, whereas the primary supporting reason was based on the expectation that such technology could prevent the occurrence of diseases in the future. Posts from these 4 platforms had different language uses and patterns when they expressed stances on the #GeneEditedBabies event. ConclusionsThis research provides evidence that posts on web-based platforms can offer insights into the public’s stance on gene editing techniques. However, these stances vary across web-based platforms and often differ from those raised by academics and policy makers.https://www.jmir.org/2022/3/e31687 |
| spellingShingle | Congning Ni Zhiyu Wan Chao Yan Yongtai Liu Ellen Wright Clayton Bradley Malin Zhijun Yin The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational Study Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational Study |
| title_full | The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational Study |
| title_fullStr | The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational Study |
| title_short | The Public Perception of the #GeneEditedBabies Event Across Multiple Social Media Platforms: Observational Study |
| title_sort | public perception of the geneeditedbabies event across multiple social media platforms observational study |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2022/3/e31687 |
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