Great thread FTS!
Scientific literacy is woefully lacking among the general population, and that is a serious problem. It is impossible for anyone to be an active participant in modern society without having at least a passing level of knowledge of scientific facts and methods. Full, active citizenship in a democratic society depends upon all members to have at least a basic, minimal understanding of what science is and how it works. Diverse topics ranging from climate change to stem cell research, from the global collapse of bee colonies to the search for exoplanets all require at least some fluency in considering scientific data and evidence as well as the arguments which develop from them.
In the United States, many states have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for science education in public schools.
One aspect of these standards is an increased focus on teaching molecular biology and genetics. Although the NGSS support genetic literacy better than existing standards, there are still "gaps [that] exist in the coverage of essential genetics concepts, most worryingly concepts dealing with patterns of inheritance, both Mendelian and complex" (Lontok et al, 2015).
For anyone interested in a deeper dive, here is a detailed, scholarly analysis: "Assessing the Genetics Content in the Next Generation Science Standards."
