Our paper explores differences and similarities of New Zealand bioscientists relative to the larger science community both in terms of their attributes and their opinions on some important issues. The most recent Survey of New Zealand Scientists and Technologists, from which data for this paper were extracted, will serve as a rough guide to a greater understanding of issues that engage the scientific community generally and bioscientists in particular (Sommer 2010). Such understanding will contribute to the advancement of a bio-based economy. The analysis demonstrates specialised capabilities of the New Zealand survey not previously developed. We comment first on the origins and purpose of the 2008 Survey and then reveal some of the distinguishing attributes and opinions of bioscientists compared to all other scientists. There are some important messages in this analysis for both public policy and private action. There are also some conundrums to contemplate.