Students oppinions on DNA banking. Preliminarny report.

Introduction: DNA banking is popular in many countries in the world but is little known in Poland. Purpose: Determine the knowledge and opinions of students of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Medical University of Białystok about DNA banking. Material and methods: The study comprised 108 students who volunteered to participate. Data were collected on a questionnaire that was developed by researchers. Results: Most of the students (72%) had heard of DNA banking; 53.0% from TV, 32.4 % from the Internet, 14.3% from newspapers, and 11% at the University. Of the responding students, 53.4% answered that DNA banking is ethical and beneficial. Nearly 26% decided to bank their own DNA. According to 33.5% of the students, a DNA sample is venous blood. Only 27.2% of the respondents knew that DNA banking is conducted in Poland, but none of them could name the city where the bank operates. Nearly half of the students (53.5%) reported that DNA banking is a molecular backup. Almost all the respondents (92.8%) wanted to increase their knowledge about DNA banking. Conclusion: The students' knowledge about DNA banking is poor, however almost all the respondents wanted to increase their knowledge about DNA banking. The main source of students’ knowledge about DNA banking was TV and the Internet. Nearly one-fourth of the respondents wanted to bank their own DNA.