Citizens’ Jury on young people’s views about free fetal DNA technology

Citizens’ Jury on new screening technology

Nowgen’s Public Programmes team is currently planning a Citizens’ Jury of young adults to look at the social and ethical implications of a new technology for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. This project is being led by Dr Marisha Palm.

A Citizens’ Jury is a participatory form of public engagement. They include a broadly representative group of between 12 and 16 members of the public who act as ‘jurors’ in their review of an issue, and a number of expert ‘witnesses’ who are invited to inform the jury.

We are working together with scientific experts and researchers from across the UK. We hope to engage young adults in participatory discussions about this new technology. We want to ensure their voices are heard in the wider debates and fed into policy discussions.

In preparation for the Citizens’ Jury we held a successful dialogue activity with a group of sixteen 16-18 year olds from a local Manchester college. The activity began with a brief overview of the technology, which was followed by scenarios highlighting particular ethical and social issues. The young adults discussed and debated the scenarios in an informed and interested manner. This discussion highlighted that many young adults saw the benefits of the new technology, but also had some concerns about its use.