Replicating GM Viruses in Cancer Therapy; A Conflict of Emotions?

The use of genetically modified (GM) viruses to cure diseases is a fast developing and promising field. Besides biosafety and ethical concerns, public opinion will also becomemore important as replicating viruses are used as therapy. Not only the risk/benefit considerations of the patient, who might have nothing to lose, will play a role, but also those of the general public, who might be unwillingly confronted with these viruses if they accidentally spread into the environment. Based on experience with social debates about other medical treatments and GM-technologies, it is reasonable to assume that patients will mainly focus on the benefits and downplay the risks of this new therapy while the general public may have a blind spot for the possible benefits and will focusmainly on the risks. These biases can cause tension in the embedding of this new technology in society. In this article we develop recommendations on how to develop a risk communication that diminishes these biases, in order to enable people to make a well-grounded ethical evaluation of the use of GM viruses. We argue that emotions such as hope, empathy but also fear and disgust should be taken into account in order to facilitate an ethical risk communication about GM viruses.