Disease is public enemy No. 1, if a recent poll of US voters is anything to go by. Some 78 percent rate finding a cure to diseases including cancer very important, according to the April poll of 800 registered voters conducted for the Biotechnology Industry Organization. By contrast, 71 percent said combating terrorism was a top concern.

The same poll found biotech firms appear to be doing a crummy job of selling themselves. When the voters were asked about their views on companies in the field, 45 percent expressed a favorable rating. But the approval ratings shot up to 86 percent when the voters were told that biotechnology companies "use biological processes and technology to develop medicines and cures for hard to treat, debilitating diseases." No doubt, the ratings were probably also boosted by the fact that voters heard that biotechnology companies also "develop different forms of alternative energy, environmentally friendly products and agricultural methods to increase food production to alleviate hunger and malnutrition."

In the poll, voters were asked to rate the importance of a range of issues on a scale of one to ten with ten meaning the issue was extremely important. The chart below represents the percentage of voters rating a topic very important, or between an eight and a ten: