Question

Discuss the major ethical issues of modern biotechnology including: a. safety concerns with genetically modified foods. b. effects of genetically modified foods in the environment. c. human genome changes. 23.

Answer 1

Allergies And Disease

A key ethical concern about GM foods is their potential to trigger allergies or disease in humans. Given that a gene could be extracted from an allergenic organism and placed into another one that typically does not cause allergies, a person may unknowingly be exposed to an allergen. In turn, this could lead to an allergic reaction. There is also the fear that new allergies could occur from the mixing of genes from two organisms.

Disease is a major health worry with regards to GM foods. Given that some of the crops modified are done so with DNA from a bacterium or virus, there is concern that a new disease may occur in humans who consume the GM food. With some GM crops having antibiotic-resistant marker genes, there is also the worry that these genes could be passed on to microbes that cause disease and health problems in humans. With widespread antibiotic resistance currently already occurring, any new resistance could prove disastrous.

Damage To The Environment

Damage to the environment is another ethical fear with regards to GM crops. Unfortunately, the technology is still new enough that there is much we do not know about the effect of GM crop production on the environment. Long-term studies take decades to complete and most studies of GM crop production involve short-term effects of the technology.

Genetic engineering

The first category consists of issues pertaining to genetic manipulation or what is sometimes called “genetic engineering.” The map of the human genome provides information that will allow us to diagnose and eventually treat many diseases. This map will also enable us to determine the genetic basis of numerous physical and psychological traits, which raises the possibility of altering those traits through genetic intervention. Reflection on the ethical permissibility of genetic manipulation is typically structured around two relevant distinctions:

Somatic cell manipulation alters body cells, which means that resulting changes are limited to an individual. In contrast, germline manipulation alters reproductive cells, which means that changes are passed on to future generations. Therapeutic engineering occurs when genetic interventions are used to rectify diseases or deficiencies. In contrast, enhancement engineering attempts extend traits or capacities beyond their normal levels.

In germline engineering, changes are passed along in the genome of future generations.

The use of somatic cell interventions to treat disease is generally regarded as ethically acceptable, because such interventions are consistent with the purpose of medicine, and because risks are localized to a single patient.

Germline interventions involve more significant ethical concerns, because risks will extend across generations, magnifying the impact of unforeseen consequences. While these greater risks call for added caution, most ethicists would not object to the use of germline interventions for the treatment of serious disease if we reach the point where such interventions could be performed safely and effectively. Indeed, germline interventions would be a more efficient method for treating disease, since a single intervention would render both the patient and his or her progeny disease-free, thus removing the need for repeated somatic cell treatments across future generations.