Abstract
Technological developments in plant breeding, notably cisgenesis and gene editing, require a rethinking of biotechnology policies. In addition to legal debates about the definition of genetic modification in the Cartagena Protocol and at national and supra-national levels, and debates about the safety of the resulting products for mankind and environment, discussions are ongoing in society concerning ethical and societal questions. In this paper, we analyse the main ethical issues that need to be taken into account when evaluating contemporary plant breeding techniques. After a brief description of the state of the art in plant breeding, we discuss these main ethical issues. We take Consequentialist, Deontological and Virtue ethics as bases of our analysis. This results in a generally positive approach to gene editing, but also highlights several concerns, predominantly used by particular groups in society. This leads to a moral incentive toward transparency and options for operationalizing consumer choice.
Highlights
Much of the current discussion about plant biotechnology relates to the legal and technical definitions of the concept of genetic modification and the questions around risk assessments arising from this legislation on products of various forms of plant biotechnology, notably cisgenesis and gene editing
Despite that we consider that their framework with three basic ethical approaches: consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics cover the main concerns, opportunities, and dilemmas for the current wave of technologies in crop biotechnologies
Ethical discussions about DNA-technologies arose in the health professions where genetic modification was broadly accepted in vaccine and drug development; debates are ongoing about affecting the germline though [30]
Summary
Much of the current discussion about plant biotechnology relates to the legal and technical definitions of the concept of genetic modification and the questions around risk assessments arising from this legislation on products of various forms of plant biotechnology, notably cisgenesis and gene editing. It concludes that weighing these is a political rather than a scientific (follow-up) question. They indicate that the discussions about values and goals are conducted from different a priori visions about the permissibility of biotechnology as such. Despite that we consider that their framework with three basic ethical approaches: consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics cover the main concerns, opportunities, and dilemmas for the current wave of technologies in crop biotechnologies. Consent (patients) Individual freedom for breeder/farmer Intrinsic value Integrity (object)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
