The Ethical Aspects of Transgenic Organisms

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The Ethical Aspects of Transgenic Organisms

• Dennis Cooley
• Department of History
• North Dakota State University
• Supported by a USDA/CSREES/IFAFS grant,
  Consortium to Address Social, Economic, and
  Ethical Aspects of Biotechnology.

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Biotechnology Industry Statistics

• There are 1,457 biotechnology companies in the
  United States, of which 342 are publicly held.
• Market capitalization, the total value of
  publicly traded biotech companies at market
  prices, was 224 billion as of early May 2002.
• The biotechnology industry has more than tripled
  in size since 1992, with revenues increasing from
  8 billion in 1992 to 27.6 billion in 2001.
• The U.S. biotech industry spent 15.6 billion on
  research and development in 2001.
• http//www.bio.org/er/statistics.asp

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Antibiotics

• New antibiotics through genetic modification
• Many antibiotics that were once highly effective
  are now proving to be useless as the
  disease-causing microorganisms develop
  resistance.
• Antibiotics and antibiotic resistanceAntibiotics
  are chemicals produced naturally by
  microorganisms in the environment that kill, or
  prevent the growth of other microorganisms.
• New antibioticsA soil bacterium Streptomyces
  is a source of antibiotics, immunosuppressants,
  anti-cancer and anti-parasitic agents, and
  natural herbicides. It is possible to generate
  new compounds by changing the blueprint
  switching some of the genes, and thus some of the
  units, around.
• http//www.jic.bbsrc.ac.uk/exhibitions/bio-future
  /medbiotech.htm

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Environment

• Transgenic foods such as canola, sugarbeets,
  soybeans and corn are already in the market.
  Hundreds of biopesticides and other agricultural
  products are being used to improve the food
  supply and to reduce our dependence on
  conventional chemical pesticides.
  http//www.bio.org/er/statistics.asp
• Ready to enter the market Wheat in North Dakota

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Pigs

• Enzymes, such as amylases and proteases, are
  being added to animal feed to supplement the
  animals own enzymes and improve digestion. Most
  animal feedstuffs are plant-derived and contain
  anti-nutritional factors that interfere with
  digestion in a variety of ways. Many of these
  factors are non-starch polysaccharides, from
  cereal grains. Adding enzymes (beta-glucanases
  and arabinoxylanase) to feedstuffs increases the
  nutritional value of feeds by breaking down these
  factors, aiding digestion and making nutrients
  more easily absorbed. Phytic acid is another
  anti-nutritional compound found in plant cereals
  that prevents dietary absorption of essential
  minerals such as iron and zinc. It also pollutes
  the environment because it is excreted as
  phosphorus in manure. Addition of phytase in the
  diet helps digestion, but until it was recently
  cloned this enzyme was not available in
  sufficient quantities for widespread use.
• Enviropigs
• Each contains an enzyme in its saliva which
  helps digest food better and so creates less
  smell and pollution through its manure.
  http//www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_279637.html

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Cows

• New Zealands AgResearch, a government-owned
  research company, put extra copies of the genes
  for beta-casein and kappa-casein (milk proteins)
  into laboratory cow cells. The cells were
  cloned, and then implanted. Nine of the eleven
  cows born produce milk with 8 to 20 more beta
  casein and twice as much kappa casein.
• The Food and Drug Administration has asked that
  milk or meat from cloned animals not be sold
  while it develops a policy on such products.
  (http//www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/national/27MILK
  .html?pagew...)

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Ethical Aspects

• Is biotechnology morally good or bad?
• Is working to create biotechnology morally right
  or wrong?
• It depends.

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Some Practical Ethical Theories

• Reasonable Person Utilitarianism (Do the best you
  can.)
• An act is morally right only if a reasonable
  person would reasonably believe that the utility
  of the consequences of the act will probably be
  as great as any alternative to the action at that
  time.
• Quasi-Categorical Imperative (If you do not want
  it done to you, then do not do it to anyone else
  AND if it is wrong for everyone to do it, then it
  is wrong for you to do it)
• An act is morally right only if in doing the
  act, the agent does not treat anyone as a mere
  means.

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The Moral Saint Test

• Think of an actual person who you who you would
  like to emulate.
• Eliminate the persons vices.
• In your mind, tell the person what you think is
  the correct solution to moral dilemma. The
  correct solution must be one that you would do if
  you were faced with the choice.
• If your paradigm would not lose some respect for
  you, then you know that you probably have
  selected the correct solution.
• If your paradigm would lose some respect for you,
  then you know that you probably have selected the
  wrong solution.

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Applying the Theory

1. Who is affected by the action?
2. How are those people affected?
3. Which alternative is likely to be the best?
4. Are the mental states, including but not limited
   to intentions and motives, of the agent(s)
   performing the actions primarily good?

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Applying the Theory

• Golden Rice
• Unethical.
• RPU To a reasonable person, the outcome did not
  reasonably appear to be the best that could have
  been done.
• QCI The desires of the individuals who were to
  benefit were not consulted.

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Applying the Theory

• Pharmaceutical companies now use genetic
  engineering to produce large quantities of
  insulin for diabetics around the world. The
  common Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria is
  used to produce insulin. Using recombinant DNA
  (glossary id 27) technology, the gene for
  producing insulin is inserted into the E. coli's
  genetic material. These genetically engineered
  bacteria are turned into tiny insulin producing
  factories. http//www3.iptv.org/exploremore/ge/use
  s/use2_medical.cfm

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Applying the Theory

• Artificial Insulin
• - Ethical
• - RPU Many people are benefited with none
  harmed.
• - QCI No one is treated as a mere means.

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The End.

• Thank you.