India: S&t policy and Focus on Ethics

The participants were from 130 institutions including IITs at Kanpur, Khargpur, Madras and Bombay and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Findings:

• In their view scientists were well respected in India and they thought that scientific literacy in India was low.
• 64% of the participants stated that they would refuse to work on development of biological weapons, while 54% took the same stand on nuclear weapons.
• Those who opposed genetic engineering and stem cell research were less than 10%.
• Most of them (59%) considered themselves to be secular, 50% thought that homeopathy was efficacious.  
• In the absence of studies on perceptions of scientists this study is a welcome addition to the literature.