Older people, who tended to have more faith in controls governing research, were more likely to agree that police should be able to collect genetic samples from suspects. Young people were only half as likely as those aged over 65 to support this. And respondents from a black background tended to be less inclined to trust police with DNA evidence. There was also a divided response to the question of whether couples at risk of having a child with a serious genetic disorder should have children of their own. Big choices More than half of those aged over 55 said couples in that situation should be discouraged from having children, while only one in 20 of those aged 16-24 agreed with this.
Attitudes vary enormously according to the perceived medical and safety benefits of the technology.