Misconceptions in research: The need for clarity through education

Vikki Blansit*

B.S. Candidate, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Stanislaus, 1 University Circle, Turlock, CA 95382

Received 5 April, 2017; accepted 19 July 2017

Abstract

Stem cell research is one of the many controversial sciences in biological research. The use of for research purposes is not a topic that can be taken lightly. However, if the findings from this research lead to treatments or even cures for debilitating diseases and contribute to our knowledge of how cancer develops and spreads, is it worth pursuing this kind of research? Many people are unsure about whether the benefits outweigh the ethical dilemmas. Will having enough education regarding the topic decrease its controversy? Or does the controversy stem from opinions that are already supported by accurate knowledge of the research? Through a survey of two groups at CSU Stanislaus, I was able to determine whether students have been provided enough information to make educated decisions or provide educated opinions regarding stem cell research. The first group consisted of 127 students majoring in biological sciences. The second group consisted of 165 students majoring in a field other than biological sciences. The subjects were asked to provide personal information, such as sex, age, religious views, ethnicity, and education. They were also asked to indicate where they get their information regarding stem cell research and how often they learn about the topic. Then they had to answer whether certain statements were true or false. Opinions on whether the research should be supported and whether it is worth funding were also collected. The data revealed correlations involving personal background and opinions/knowledge about stem cell research. One positive correlation was found in having a major or minor in biology and being able to be persuaded by accurate statements about the research. Participation in religious activities was negatively correlated with support for the research, having accurate beliefs about the research, and being able to be persuaded by accurate statements about the research. Those who self-reported as religious, and more specifically Christian, were less likely to support the research and have accurate beliefs about the research. The positive correlation between majoring or minoring in biology and being able to be persuaded by accurate statements about the research could be due to exposure to controversial topics. Exposure to accurate information about controversial topics in science could lead to more acceptance of this research. This could be done through alterations in the general education requirements for California State Universities to include more topics involving controversial research.

Keywords: stem cell, controversy, education, religion

Introduction Background

New discoveries in science found through research and Given all of the mixed opinions about the topic of stem testing tend to create turmoil due to conflicting opinions cell research, it is important to understand what the science from the public. Some can see the greater good in the is really about. Stem cells could be imagined as the building research, while others fear the possible immoral and blocks of nature. They have the ability to produce any type unethical steps taken to reach these discoveries. Stem cell of cell in the body and are the first cells that lead to the research is one of the sciences with this problem. The development of a fetus and ultimately a baby. Stem cells public is divided between the supporters of the research and are also found in certain areas of the body where they help the opposition. The variables that play a role in the in tissue repair and renewal. The types of stem cells can be conflicting viewpoints have yet to be fully explored. arranged in three categories including embryonic, adult, Previous studies have generally found correlations between and induced pluripotent (“Stem Cell Information,” 2015). religious affiliations and attitudes towards stem cell research has been an area of research. If education plays a role in the attitudes towards controversy in this field. stem cell research, then one can conclude that there is a Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) used in research are need for stem cell research education in order to gain created in-vitro (in a lab dish). An egg is fertilized and support for stem cell research. becomes an . The inner cells, or inner cell mass, of the embryo during the stage are stem cells. These cells differentiate into all the types of cells found in the

* Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

13 body. The sources of the embryos used in the research are is research being done on alternatives to these viruses In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) clinics. They are donated with (“Stem Cell Information,” 2015). consent by the patients who no longer need or want the Stem cell research has much to offer the medical field. embryos. The other options for the fate of these embryos It may help to increase our understanding of how diseases are thaw and discard, donate to another couple, or freeze occur and lead to better treatment therapies. This research indefinitely. However, the options may vary depending on could also be a major breakthrough in regenerative the clinic (Lyerly et al., 2008). Embryonic stem cell medicine. Regenerative medicine is the process of research results in the destruction of an embryo, which is a replacing damaged cells or tissue in order to restore it to major ethical hurdle the science faces. The question of normal function. Stem cell research could be used to test when life begins has been an ongoing debate. Those who new drugs for safety and effectiveness, avoiding risk to a consider the destruction of an embryo as taking a life subject. This research will hopefully contribute to our generally oppose embryonic stem cell research, but may knowledge of how cancer develops and spreads, since support adult or induced pluripotent stem cell research. cancer is thought to involve the problem of differentiation While these two other areas of research are beneficial, and cell division. This could also further our understanding embryonic stem cell research is still needed in conjunction of birth defects for the same reasons. with them. Stem cells have already been applied in medicine. The Adult/Somatic Stem Cells (ASCs) are undifferentiated use of bone marrow transplants has been used for years. If cells found within a tissue or organ. They can differentiate a disease is being treated with bone marrow, then it is being to yield some or all of the major specialized cell types of treated with adult stem cells. Cord stem cells, or the tissue or organ. They normally maintain and repair the hematopoietic stem cells, are the same stem cells found in tissue they are found in. They were once thought to be bone marrow. These stem cells give rise to all types of cells specialized, but now it seems they are able to differentiate found in the blood: red blood cells, white blood cells, and into other tissues (transdifferentiation). Some believe these platelets. These are used in therapies for certain blood stem cells can replace embryonic stem cell research, but the diseases such as leukemia, anemia, and lymphoma. There science is still not fully understood and scientists cannot are clinical trials with stem cells from cord tissue. A few of produce all cell types and tissues using ASCs. There are the many clinical trials include Alzheimer’s disease, autism, many questions still needing to be answered involving Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. ESCs have ASCs, including, how many types exist in the body, how not been used in trials. However, there are they evolve during development, what controls their promising results in animal trials. If scientists perfect the behavior, where they are specifically located in the body, process of in ESCs, they may be and the process of differentiation into specific cell types or able to apply the technique to a treatment of certain diseases tissues. It may be possible to improve the process of like diabetes, spinal cord injury, Duchenne muscular differentiation of these ASCs to become more efficient and dystrophy, heart disease, vision loss, hearing loss, and reliable in tissue repair within our bodies if we better others (“Stem Cell Information,” 2015). understand how they work (“Stem Cell Information,” 2015). Despite all the negative attention stem cell research has For now, embryonic stem cell research is still needed. acquired, the potential benefits far outweigh the harmful Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) come from the effects. The medical leaps taken from the use of stem cell reprogramming of adult cells (normal body cells) to research are profound and still progressing. become ESC-like cells. The adult cells were thought to have a set fate, but it has been discovered that they can be “de-differentiated” and reprogrammed. By turning on or off Methods certain genes, these adult cells could express genes or factors that reflect that of an ESC. This technique showed Two groups at CSU Stanislaus were surveyed. The significant results when these cells were tested. They were first group consisted of 127 students majoring in biology. able to produce all three germ layers, produce stem cell The students were surveyed from three of the BIOL 1050 markers, and were able to produce many tissue types when lectures. This course is a required prerequisite for the injected into a mouse embryo early in development. The biological sciences major. The survey asked subjects to tissues from iPSCs would be nearly an identical match to self-report their major, in case there were students in the the recipient, avoiding the risk of rejection, since the course that had a major other than biological sciences. procedure would utilize the recipient’s own body cells. Extra credit was offered for participation in this survey Some believe this research could replace the use of from all the professors teaching the course. embryos, but much more research is needed before this can The second group consisted of 165 students majoring be used in transplantation medicine. For now, viruses are in a field other than biological sciences. These students being used to reprogram the cells, which has been rather were surveyed from PSCI 1201 and BIOL 1010. PSCI 1201 imperfect resulting in abnormalities such as cancer. There is a required general education course, so there is generally a wide range of majors from this class. BIOL 1010 is one

14 of the biology courses students can take to fulfill a general The final opinions section asked the subject whether education requirement. The students that take this course the benefits of stem cell research outweigh the ethical are not likely to be biological science majors, since the dilemmas and whether stem cell research should be funded. same general education requirement is fulfilled with the The answers were in multiple choice format and included prerequisite BIOL 1050 course. Extra credit was offered yes, no, and I’m not sure as possible answers. from the professors teaching these courses for those who This survey was approved by the University chose to participate. Institutional Review Board. The survey was accessible through Google Forms, one of the services that Google offers. Anyone with a CSU Stanislaus email address who was sent a link of the survey Participants could participate in the survey. The professors sent the link to the students through their CSU Stanislaus email. The The sample comprised of 292 participants, of which responses were anonymous, unless the student requested 71.9% were female. The average age of participants was extra credit. In these cases, students had the option to 20.62 years old (SD = 4.46) and the subjects’ ethnicity was include their school ID and the last name of the professor as follows: 39.9% Hispanic, 19.4% Caucasian, 15.8% offering the extra credit. While the students’ responses Asian, 7.9% Middle Eastern, and 2.2% African American, were not entirely anonymous with this option, the with an additional 14% reporting as multi-racial. Within information was immediately decoupled from the survey the sample, 79.6% reported belonging to some type of responses and only the student ID numbers were sent to the religious denomination with 68.6% identifying as Christian professors who offered extra credit so it could be awarded. (Protestant, Roman Catholic, or other). The remaining The anonymized responses were saved in an Excel 20.4% identified as “not religious”. spreadsheet on a personal password-protected computer to prevent any personal information being exposed. The survey included several sections, among them Results personal information, background knowledge of and attitude towards stem cell research, true or false statements, The study sought to assess what factors correlated with and final opinions. The subjects were asked for their sex, support for stem-cell research, having accurate beliefs age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, how frequently they about stem cell research, and being able to be persuaded by participate in religious activities, major, concentration, accurate statements about stem cell research. Several minor, total years of college completed, and if any degrees factors were expected to be related with these three have been completed. The answer format ranged from different outcome variables, including participants’ multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and checkmark boxes. educational background (i.e., whether or not they were Possible ethnicities, religions, years of college completed, pursuing a major or minor in biology, whether or not they and degrees received all provided answers to choose from, were interested in, and knowledgeable about, stem cell as well as an option for “other” with a fill-in-the-blank box. research) and religious background (whether or not they The section for the participants’ knowledge of and were Christian and/or religious, how often they participated attitude towards stem cell research asked how frequently in religious activities). Gender and race were also they are updated on stem cell research, where they get their examined as potential factors affecting attitudes and beliefs information regarding stem cell research, how well they about stem cell research. understand stem cell research, and their attitude towards In assessing support for stem cell research, no stem cell research. The frequency of being updated about significant differences were found between participants the research, their understanding of the research, and their with a major or minor in biology, compared to participants attitude towards the research were multiple choice without a major or minor in biology. Similarly, it was questions. The possible sources of information regarding found that self-reported interest or knowledge related to stem cell research had a list of checkmark boxes and an stem cell research was also unrelated to support for stem option for “other” with a fill-in-the-blank box. cell research. However, it was found that religious The true or false statements sent the subjects to specific activities were negatively related with support for stem cell pages, depending on their answer. For example, if the research, r (144) = -.38, p < .01. Furthermore, it was found statement is false and the subjects answered true, they were that participants who self-reported as religious were less sent to a page with information regarding why the likely to support stem cell research (M = 2.34; SD = 0.48), statement is false with a citation from a scholarly source. compared to those who self-reported as not religious (M = The subject was then given the option to change his or her 2.56; SD = 0.50), t (134) = 2.25, p = .03. It was also found answer, then was sent to the next true or false statement. If that Christians, in particular, were less likely to support the subject answered the question correctly the first time, stem cell research (M = 2.34; SD = 0.48) than non- they were sent directly to the next statement. Christians (M = 2.50; SD = 0.51), although this difference was only marginally significant, t (134) = 1.82, p = .07.

15 It was also found that participation in religious activity corrective statements. It was found that participation in was negatively related with the belief that the benefits of religious activities was negatively related with finding the stem cell research outweigh the harm, r (290) = -.20, p < .01, corrective statements persuasive, r (197) = -.14, p = .05. and the belief that stem cell research is worth funding, r However, neither being Christian nor being religious in (290) = -.17, p < .01. Christians were less likely to believe general was related with the persuasiveness of corrective that the benefits of stem cell research outweigh the harm statements. Once again, gender and race had no (M = 2.11; SD = 0.69), compared to non-Christians (M = discernable effect. 2.47; SD = 0.55), t (271) = 4.24, p < .01. Christians were also less likely to believe that stem cell research is worth funding (M = 2.47; SD = 0.67), compared to non-Christians Miscellaneous Findings (M = 2.71; SD = 0.46), t (272) = 2.95, p < .01. Religious participants were less likely to believe that Participants who had a major or minor in biology the benefits of stem cell research outweigh the harm (M = reported greater knowledge about stem cell research (M = 2.14; SD = 0.67), compared to participants who were not 2.05; SD = 0.66), compared to participants without a major religious (M = 2.55; SD = 0.57), t (271) = 4.12, p < .01. or minor in biology (M = 1.79; SD = 0.61), t (290) = 3.55, Religious participants were also less likely to believe that p < .01. Participants who had a major or minor in biology stem cell research is worth funding (M = 2.48; SD = 0.65), reported greater interest about stem cell research (M = 2.10; compared to participants who were not religious (M = 2.80; SD = 0.83), compared to participants without a major or SD = 0.40), t (272) = 3.52, p < .01. Neither gender nor race minor in biology (M = 1.67; SD = 0.61), t (290) = 4.68, p had any significant effect on support for stem cell research. < .01. To assess accuracy of beliefs about stem cell research, Belief that stem cell research is worth funding was participants were asked to report whether five statements found to be positively related with the number of about stem cell research are true or false. On average, statements participants correctly identified as true or false, participants correctly identified 3.84 of the statements as r (268) = .29, p < .01. It was found that the belief that the true or false (SD = 1.11). Results showed that whether benefits of stem cell research outweigh the harm was participants had a major or minor in biology was not positively related with the number of statements predictive of how accurate participants were in their stem participants correctly identified as true or false, r (267) cell beliefs. Self-reported interest and knowledge related = .13, p = .04. to stem cell research was also not predictive. However, participation in religious activities was negatively predictive of accuracy of stem cell beliefs, r (268) = -.17, p Conclusions and Implications = .01. Likewise, it was found that Christians correctly identified fewer statements as true or false (M = 3.71; SD = A possible hypothesis from these results is that biology 1.17) than non-Christians (M = 4.18; SD = 0.88), t (251) = majors are more likely to be persuaded by accurate 3.19, p < .01. It was also found that those who self-reported statements about the research due to exposure of as religious correctly identified fewer statements (M = 3.74; controversial research topics and scientific information. By SD = 1.14) than those who self-reported as not being altering the general education requirements, more students religious (M = 4.32; SD = 0.82), t (251) = 3.40, p < .01. As could potentially be exposed to these topics. California before, no relationships were found with gender or race. State Universities require that all majors take specified If participants held inaccurate beliefs about stem cell courses in various disciplines as GE requirements. One area research, they were directed to “corrective statements,” for CSU Stanislaus is B2 Biological Sciences under Natural which contained accurate information about stem cell Sciences and Mathematics. The courses listed vary research to correct for these inaccurate beliefs. Participants depending on academic year. They are rudimentary courses were asked if they were “persuaded” by each of these that skim the basics in fields involving biology (i.e., corrective statements. From this, it was calculated what genetics, botany, zoology). These courses could expand percentage of the time participants were persuaded by these their topics in controversial areas of research in these fields. corrective statements. On average, participants were The added exposure could have an influence on the persuaded 41.26% of the time. An independent-samples t- opinions and on the understanding of stem cell research and test revealed that participants with a major or minor in furthermore, influence the support for the research. biology were more likely to find corrective statements persuasive (M = 46.91; SD = 45.75) than those without a major or minor in biology (M = 35.84; SD = 40.89), Discussion although this difference was only marginally significant, t (196) = 1.80, p = .07. Correlational analyses revealed that The survey has several inevitable drawbacks. One neither interest, knowledge, nor support for stem cell involves the perspectives of the subjects. Some of the research was related with the persuasiveness of the questions require a subjective response, disabling accurate

16 interpretation of the results. For example, one of the remaining neutral. Those who had yet to form an opinion questions asks how frequently the subject stays up to date could have been swayed towards supporting the research. on stem cell research. The options were always, often, The sources of information regarding stem cell sometimes, rarely, and never. The responses to this research do not necessarily constitute accurate or question were based on opinion rather than fact. inaccurate information. For example, a professor could Another drawback involves the qualitative analysis. It provide inaccurate information regarding the research or is difficult to assess the subjects’ understanding of the non-scholarly media may provide accurate information research. There was a subjective question regarding how regarding the research. well the subject feels they understand stem cell research The participants were all from CSU Stanislaus and, and there were five questions used in determining the therefore, represented a specific population. Those outside subjects’ understanding. This is not enough information to of the university were not represented. This includes determine one’s understanding of the research. various education levels, religious views, ages, ethnicities, The survey has a slight bias, which might have and even geographic location. influenced the subjects’ answers. This may have skewed Males were underrepresented in the sample. Females the data. The survey was geared more towards supporting made up 71.9% of the sample, which could have altered the the research, as opposed to being against the research or results.

References Lyerly, A. D., Steinhauser, K., Voils, C., Namey, E., Alexander, C., Murnaghan, I. (2014). Creating embryonic stem cells without embryo Bankowski, B., Cook-Deegan, R., Dodson, W. C., Gates, E., Jungheim, destruction. Retrieved from http://www.explorestemcells.co.uk/ E. S., McGovern, P. G., Myers, E. R., Osborn, B., Schlaff, W., creating-embryonic-stem-cells-embryo-destruction.html Sugarman, J., Tulsky, J. A., Walmer, D., Faden, R. R., & Wallach, E. Stem Cell Information. (2015). Stem Cell Basics. Retrieved from (2008). Fertility patients' views about frozen embryo disposition: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/Pages/Default.aspx Results of a multi-institutional U.S. survey. PubMed, 93(2), 499-509. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.10.015

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