Most highly religious Americans would not want gene editing for their baby % editing of U.S. adults >in each group who say they would/would not want gene editing giving their baby a much reduced risk of serious disease Among those on the religious commitment index
Religious people tend to be more skeptical of embryonic gene editing than those who are less religious. Only 34% of highly religious adults (based on an index of common measures) say they would want to employ gene editing to reduce their child’s risk of disease. Among those who have a low level of religious commitment, almost twice as many (63%) tell us they would want to use the technology on their children. Highly religious Americans tend to see gene editing as crossing a line and “meddling with nature,” while those who are less religious are more inclined to say it is no different than other ways humans have tried to better themselves.
Most highly religious Americans would not want gene  | editing for their baby  | % editing of U.S. adults >in each group who say they would/would not want gene  | editing giving their baby a much reduced risk of serious disease  | Would not want for their baby  | Would want for their baby  | U.S. adults  | 50  | 48  | Among those on the religious commitment index  | High  | 34  | 64  | 50  | 48  | Medium  | 36  | 63  | Low  | Note: Respondents who did not give an answer are not shown. "Definitely" would/would no  | want and probably would/would not want responses combined. See Methodology for  | details on index of religious commitment.  | Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted March 2-28 2016.  | "U.S. Public Wary of Biomedical Technologies to "Enhance" Human Abilities"  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 