Transcript The Ethical Aspects of Biotechnology:

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.”
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
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 resistance
Antibiotics are chemicals produced naturally by microorganisms in the
environment that kill, or prevent the growth of other microorganisms.
 New antibiotics
A 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
Environment
 Transgenic foods such as papaya, 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
Animal Husbandry

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 plantderived 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
Cows
 New Zealand’s 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.
 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.htm
l?pagew...)
Ethical Aspects
 Is biotechnology morally good or bad?
 Is working to create biotechnology morally
right or wrong?
 It depends.
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.
The Moral Saint Test
 Think of an actual person who you who you would like to
emulate.
 Eliminate the person’s 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.
Applying the Theory
1.
2.
3.
4.
Who is affected by the action?
How are those people affected?
Which alternative is likely to be the best?
Are the mental states, including but not
limited to intentions and motives, of the
agent(s) performing the actions primarily
good?
Applying the Theory
 Golden Rice
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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.
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/uses/use2_medical.cfm#
Applying the Theory
 Artificial Insulin
- Ethical
- RPU – Many people are benefited with
none harmed.
- QCI – No one is treated as a mere means.
The End.
 Thank you.