Study on Ethical Issues of Transgenic Technology from the Angle of Ecology,Livelihood and Life

Ding Yi

(School of History and Culture,Jishou University,Jishou,Hunan Province,416000)

Abstract:As the biotechnology develops,the past few years has seen the hot topic of the study and application of transgenic technology rush into academic circles and the public.At present,there is no clear conclusion on the safety of transgenic technology.Although transgenic technology has brought considerable economic profit to the group company with the technology,it also hasvarious risksand ethical problems.Taking the ethical issues on transgenic technology as theme,this paper focuses on analyzing the causes of ethical problemsof transgenic technology,and discussing theimpact of transgenic technology on human livelihood and lifein abid toguidethedevelopment of transgenic technology towardsthedirection of lifehealth and ecological environment.

Keywords:Transgenic Technology;security;ethical issues

Introduction

As the one of the most important scientific and technological fields in the 21st century,transgenic technology has made numerous achievements in agriculture,food,medicine,which has brought huge economic benefits to society.However,it also has an important impact on human health and ecological environment.In terms of agricultural sector,transgenic technology can produce high-yield and high-quality crops to settle food and clothing problems.On the food side,transgenic technology can prolong theshelf life of fruitsand vegetables,and improve their sensory quality.Genetic engineering develops rapidly and makes remarkable development achievement,and it is the world’s most widely used in the field of medicine.Transgenic technology plays important rolesin the improvement of pharmaceutical production and medical treatment,as well as the development of new drugs such as synthetic insulin and auxin.All in all,transgenic technology can relievepeople’s pain,and raise life expectanciesto a certain extent.

Like other science and technology,transgenic technology is a double-edged sword.It can not only bring the considerable economic interest,but also can cause many dangers and argument.Through the modification,the production cost of most corps will be reduced,whilethe yield will be improved,and the pest and virus resistance can also be enhanced,so that the corps possesses the functions of keeping freshness in the transportation and storage process.Thanks to the advantages of transgenic products,in 2016,21 years after the commercialization of generic crops,185.1 million hectares of genetic crops were planted in 26 countries,increasing by 5.4 million hectares,an increase of 3%,compared with 179.7 million hectaresin 2015.Thisisthe 20th growth year except the year of 2015[1].But,there exists some problems such as “Super Weeds” and BT environmental devastation.

Since the first genetic food,transgenic tomato,entered into the market in 1994,the planting area of genetic crops has been increasing,from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 11 million hectares in 1997 and up to 58.67 million hectares in 2002.But now,genetic food is mostly exported to developing countries or much less developed countries.In addition,different countries and people have different attitudes and policies towards genetic food.Although the disadvantage of transgenic technology has not been shown,there are many controversies about transgenic technology.

At present,people mainly focus on two aspects to discuss the ethical problems of transgenic technology.Firstly,transgenic technology will destroy the ecological environment or not.Secondly,transgenic technology will do harm to human health or not.

At abroad,Dr.Darryl Macer is the first to pay attention to the ethical issues of transgenic technology.From the impact of transgenic technology on human health and environment,he thought that transgenic technology would lead to biodiversity loss.Paul Burger made major breakthrough in the study of genetic engineering.He banded with eleven experts to publish an open letter in the journal“Science”on 26 July,1974.They appealed their fellow scientists to focus on potential risk of DNA molecular recombination,discuss its security,and end the research beforefindingthemethodsof how to prevent and control thepotential risk[2].

In China,after summarizing the discussion of whether genetically modified foods would harms to human health and ecological environmental,Mao Xinzhi pointed out that people should hold the attitude of“presumption of guilt”towards transgenic technology and products,and take a hard look at the security problems of genetically modified foods and add-on products[3].Additionally,Liu Qian mentioned the safety of genetically modified foods in“Journal of Biosafety”.

I.Ethical Issues Caused by Transgenic Technology

The major principle of transgenic technology is that accordingtopeople’sdesireisolate some plants’DNA,cut it in vitro,spice and recombine,integrate the recombinant DNA into host cells or cell nuclear,and purposely alter their genetic traits by artificial methods.The first successful transgenic animal experiment was conducted in 1974[4].Jaenisch successfully created the first transgenic mice SV40DNA by means of microinjection in the world.In1983,the world’s first transgenic corps tobacco with antibiotic resistance was produced in America.And transgenic fish was produced in 1985,which initiated the study and production of genetically modified foods[5].

Since the development of transgenic technology,it has brought great social and economic benefits to human.At the same time,like other new technologies,there are many controversies in practice.With the rapid development of technology,the transgenic technology even can transfer human genes to almost any kind of organism.

Human genes can be randomly transferred in different organisms,so some questions has been raised,for example,whether the arbitrary transfer of human genes will lead to human disaster.In addition,the genetically modified foods are monopolized by a minority of biotech in most countries,then whether they would mix or process the genetic structure of the whole biosphere so as to gain benefits.However,“The pursuit science cannot be realized in the vacuum of ethics and morality,in any healthy,educated society”.Therefore,this paper will analyze the major ethical problems caused by genetic technology.

1.Issuesof Ecological Ethics

Ecological ethicsfocuseson issuesof theory and practice about how to care for,pay attention to,and fulfill the responsibility of protecting natural environment[7].The problemsof ecological ethicsis that how to deal with the relationship between the protection of nature and the sustainable development of human society.With the rapid development of science and technology,human civilization has reached a high level,at the same time,and Human’s ability to transform and utilize natural resources has been greatly enhanced,which has led to the transformation of ecological ethics.As one of the new science and technology,the impact on the development and use of transgenic technology has gradually emerged.

The impact of transgenic technology on ecological environment is reflected in biodiversity.Genetically modified organisms may result in harmful consequences after being put into the ecological environment.The unique traits of transgenic plants were conducted by using transgenic technology,rather than natural selection and genetic evolution.Therefore,so long as the transgenic plants are released into the environment,their ecological behaviorsareunpredictable.

Table1 Potential Risk of Transgenic Plantsin the Environment[6]

Table 1 shows the worsened ecological environment caused by some genetically modified organisms. In addition, applying transgenic technology may also lead to gene flow,gene pollution and the new viruses.The gene flow is a phenomenon that exogenous genes infiltrate into non-transgenic varieties of crops or their wild relatives(including weeds) through natural hybridization (or cross-breeding)[6].The contamination of maize genes in Mexico is the biggest example.David and other researchers from the University of California,USA,published an article in“Nature”in November 2001.They claimed that they found some exogenous genes including CaMV35S,Novartis Bt 11,and adhl gene among the sample of six maize local varieties collected in southern Mexico.Therefore,Greenpeace said the corns in Mexico have been genetically polluted.Although the article was criticized by many scientists after it was published,it cannot be denied that native corn in southern Mexico has been polluted by genetic modification.

2.Issues of Bioethics

The life of bioethics mainly refers to the life of human,animals and plants.The bioethics problems caused by transgenic technology are mainly focused on human life in thispaper.

Genetically modified foods produce foods by using the improvement of transgenic technology.At present,a large number of transgenic crops have been directly or indirectly made into food,such as soybeans,corns,potatoes and tomatoes.Human eat a large amount of genetically modified foods,at the same time,there also exists many safety problems,such as the problem of toxicity,allergic reaction and immunity.In the United States,there was an accident caused by genetically modified foods in 16 years ago.This accident was caused by acidophilic myalgia killing 37 people.The pathogen was identified as a genetically modified bacterial tryptophan food additiveproduced by a Japanesecompany.

As for the problems of bioethics,additionally,the key concern for people goes for that whether the human genes included in genetically modified foods is ethical or not.Gene exchange can be achieved between human and animals in that transgenic technology can break species extent.For example,is it right to transfer human genes into animals such as sheep,which contain human genes?Is it ethical for some people who are banned consumption of pork by transferring pig genes to cattle and sheep?What kinds of influences will have on vegetarians when they transfer animal genes to plants?The most confused thing is if the transgenic pigs produced by transferring human genes into pigs were matched with human organs,would it be a human or a pig?There are many such discussions.The problems arising from the transgenic technology have posed great challenges to life ethics of the whole human beings.

3.Issuesof Social Ethics

Regarding social ethic relation as object of the study,social ethics is a theory concerning the harmony of the public order and the realization of social justice[9].The influences of transgenic technology on human society are reflected in economic relations,political relations,and family relations,which have certain impactson social ethics.Therefore,the influence of transgenic technology on social ethics can be investigated from the following twoaspects.

With the development of transgenic technology,more public opinions question the safety of genetically modified foods,and consumers pay more attention to the safety of genetically modified foods.Meanwhile,different countries have made different regulations on the safety management of genetically modified foods.Among them,people focus on the labelling of genetically modified foods.From the perspective of economics,in order to correct or mitigate the commodity information asymmetry caused by market failure,professional and standard label systemcan build market trust,in fully to ensure customers right to know,and option right when buyinggoods,civil rights of the public to give the full respect[10].Therefore,in an era of frequent food safety incidents,it is more necessary to rebuild consumers’trust in the food industry.Consumers’concern about the safety of genetically modified foods is due to the lack of knowledge about transgenic technology.The International Commission on Bioethics,founded in 1993,has 50 committee members from 32 countries aimed to make public and disseminate related knowledge about potential genetic problems.In the sales of genetically modified foods,the labeling of genetically modified foods should be done well to let consumers choose and fully protect their right to know.“Based on current technical conditions and people’s awareness of genetically modified foods,as long as a mandatory labeling system for genetically modified foods can guarantee customers’right to know and option right”[11].

In addition,only developed countries can devote plenty of manpower,material and financial resources in the research of transgenic technology,so it is monopolized by few developed countries.At the same time,it deprives farmers’“seed right”,and the biotechnology companies dominate transgenic technology in the name of protecting their knowledge property right,which leads to farmers’right cannot be guaranteed,and bringing the potential threat for developingcountries.

The research level of transgenic technology in developed and developing countries have been in different level,and the transgenic technology in developing countries lags behind developed countries.Under this circumstance,the commercial trade of transgenic products between developed countries and developing countries is unfair.Developing countries will increasingly rely on developed countries to solve the food problem,and eventually even losing their autonomy,which strengthen the monopoly of the developed countries on transgenic technology.As a basic principle in commercial trade, the principle of fairness determineshow developed countries should deal with their trade relations with developing countries with the concept of cooperation,and resolve the contradiction and imbalance in transgenic technology between developed countries and developing countriesthrough fair ethics.

II.Analysis of the Causes of Ethical Issues

The transgenic technology initially aims to bring welfare to human social life.As a tool or means to benefit for people,transgenic technology was applied by different groups in a certain social environment.Therefore,the ethical problems caused by transgenic technology need to be specifically investigated according to different historical conditions,cultural backgrounds,interest subjects and other factors.At the same time,from the level of technology,transgenic technology is uncertain,and people should objectively treat these uncertainties.Therefore,by analyzing the causes of ethical problems of transgenic technology,people would have a good understanding of the impact and application of transgenic technology,so as to help generalize the ethical principles that should be followed in transgenic research.

1.Culture Shock

In the era of globalization,the collision and penetration of various cultures has become overwhelming.“Thedross of money worship,extreme individualism and traditional Chinese culture has been scattered in all fields of social life,influencing people’s moral concepts,as well as in the field of food safety[12]”.The initial purpose of science and technology development is to benefit for people,as well as the development of transgenic technology.However,in the process of development and application of transgenic technology,the development of genetically modified foods has gradually gone off track,and the technology of ethical problems emerged,due to some negative influences on people,such asmoney worship,theinterestsof the individual above social and national interests,and the traditional Chinesethoughtson food of novelty.

In addition,the anomie of ethical principles and ethics can also lead to ethical problems of transgenic technology.As a social consciousness,ethics is relatively independent,so it sometimes exists in backward society.Therefore,when the construction of ethics and morality lags behind the development of science and technology, the development of transgenic technology will influence or even destroy existing ethics and morality.At this time,the new ethical and moral system is not yet completed,which is another inducement for transgenic technology to generate ethical problems.

2.Technical Impact

As a kind of science and technology,transgenic technology has objective risks at the technical level.Firstly of all,because transgenic technology has developed for a short time,people have limited knowledge of it.Since the late 1960s,Stanford university professor of biochemistry produced the world’s first recombinant DNA through experiments,and the development of transgenic technology has only been a few decades.Additionally,due to the limited knowledge of transgenic technology,people cannot have a complete understanding of it.

At the same time,the safety of transgenic technology in the application process has no distinct conclusion,which hasclose relationshipswith related ethics.“Safety and risk inevitably may cause ethical problems such as responsibility,obligation and justification.If the risks are irresponsible and improper,it is appropriate to pay attention to the risks in that these risks can lead to innocent person get hurt.The ethics also has impact on risk assessment[13]”.“Butterfly event”was reported by“Nature”in 1999,some American scholars fed the butterflies leaves coated with genetically modified corn pollen,resulting in 44% of the larvae dying,which make people question its safety.Although transgenic technology has developed for decades,the impact of it will take hundreds or even generations to summarize.In addition,another big concern about transgenic technology is its unpredictability.Transgenic technology has been applied in other fields,such as information and military,from the original research on biology, medicine and agriculture to now,which further complicates the safety of transgenic technology.In 2006,for example,Israeli acute paralysis virus,a genetic weapon developed in Israel, caused the mysterious disappearance of honeybees in 50 to 90 percent of the United States’hive,a phenomenon known as“Colony Collapse Disorder”,causing more than$10 billion honeybees in losses.Fortunately,it only caused economic losses,but no impact on human life and health.However,it does not mean that the future development of transgenic technology will not result in more serious consequences.“At present,at least America,Russia and Israel have plans to develop genetic weapons.The United States has developed some genetic weapons,and Russia has made full use of genetic engineering to develop a new toxin called anthrax,which can resist any antibiotic and produce resistance”Zhou Jian said[14].Therefore,people should reflect the lack of objectivity of transgenic technology and the uncertainty of its impact.

3.Interests Driving

The safety of genetically modified foods is being debated and there are some potential hazards and adverse factors to human health and ecological environment.However,it is immoral act that people continue to promote and develop genetically modified foods,which is not good for human development in pursuit of their own interests.

The development of transgenic technology is driven by human interests.From 1996 to 2009,transgenic crops generated about$65 billion in agricultural economic benefits in the world,of which 44% was the benefits of production costs reduced(less plowing,pesticide spraying and labor)and 56%to the substantial yield benefits of 229 million tons[15].Although the safety of transgenic technology is under debate,some people conduct immoral acts to gain more profits.The United States is the first country to produce genetically modified foods and a major country to grow genetically modified crops.However,it should be noted that the proportion of genetically modified foods consumed by the United States is very low.Most of its genetically modified foods are exported to developing countries.Science and technology has become the primary productive force,and great wealth stimulatesthe desire of human beings.Therefore,some researchers will pursue interests firstly,neglecting ethics and professional ethics.As major participants in the research and development of transgenic technology,if they neglect the nutritional value and toxic potential of genetically modified foods so as to gain more benefits,the moral quality of researchers will directly influence the safety of genetically modified foods.Therefore,it is necessary for people to grasp the relationship between economic interests and ethics.By doing this,human beings can bebenefited.

4.Deficiency of Policy and Regulation

The safety supervision of genetically modified foods is especially important,due to the complexity and uncertainty of genetically modified foods safety problems.At the same time,many major food safety incidents in China also reflect that there are some problemsin thecurrent supervision of food safety.

In food safety supervision,Ren Feng interprets the necessity of food safety supervision from text analysis and practical survey. Through the interpretation of the text of government responsibility in food safety regulation,it is found that the biggest problemisthat the relevant regulationsare too broad,lacking of accuracy.However,there are various problems in law enforcement practices,such as the lack of safety supervision system and the insufficiency of laws and regulations related to the“Food Safety Law”[16].At present,safety management policiesand regulationson genetically modified foods are being launched in many countries.Governments and institutions are studying how to better formulate regulatory measures to guarantee the safety of genetically modified foods.

In addition,transgenic technology is immature,so there is potential insecurity in the production of genetically modified foods through this technology.At present,the general method in the world is to carry out labeling system for genetically modified foods,but in fact,different countries have different safety evaluation and management of it.For example,in the European Union,Australia and New Zealand implement comprehensive labelling,in Japan and South Korea carry out limited labelling,but in the United States,Canada and other countries,there is voluntary labelling.Although Chinahas implemented aseriesof lawsand regulationsafter thereleaseof the“Safety Management Measures for Genetic Engineering”by the State Science and Technology Commission in 1993,the safety evaluation system for genetically modified foods in China is inefficient;various detection technologies are inadequate,and the labeling management of genetically modified foods is not strict.For example,relevant stakeholders deliberately conceal or even do not label when selling genetically modified foods.Such behavior not only enables consumers to consume genetically modified foods,but also violates the law in serious cases.Therefore,the author can say that“genetically modified foods labeling system is the core of genetically modified foods safety risk management and the last firewall for risk prevention and control[17].

III．Ethical Principles of Transgenic Technology

The survival and development of human beings,especially in the practice activities of human making nature change,needs corresponding ethical and moral systems to standardize human behaviors.It is necessary to establish the development concept of the coordination between ethics and science and technology,and to follow ethical and moral standards.In order to improve our various technologies in the process of research and development,so as to meet the maximization of human demand for economic benefits,it is necessary to protect the stability and sustainability of the entire ecological environment while maintaining human livelihood and life.Therefore,people need to effectively control transgenic technology so as to avoid risks brought by transgenic technology by using the principle of non-maleficence,justiceand responsibility.

1.Principle of Non-maleficence

As one of the four principles in bioethics,non-maleficence principle mainly refers to the behavior of individuals or groups,and people cannot cause unnecessary harm to other individuals or groups for any reason.But in real life,individual or the collective will intentionally or unintentionally violate this principle in the pursuit of interests,while the pursuit of security is one of human instinct,so the core principle of ethics is that no harm to human beings.

The misuse of technology is a typical example of a violation of this principle.The original intention of the development of transgenic technology is to solve the practical problems of human social life,but its threats to human life and health as well as the ecological environment cannot be ignored,especially the misuse of transgenic technology for blind pursuit of economic interests,causing genetic pollution and ecological damage.Therefore,in order not to violate the principle of non-maleficence,there are three aspects which should be guaranteed at least including protecting human life safety,preserving life safety of other organisms and protecting ecological environment in the development and application of transgenic technology.

2.Principleof Justice

In theethical study of transgenic technology,the principle of justice refers to the harmonious development between people,between people and other creatures and between people and nature.Fundamentally,all life in nature is equal,so human cannot arbitrarily deprive the life of other creatures and deny the life value of other creatures for the pursuit of interests.Therefore,when human by using transgenic technology for their own benefits,meanwhile,organisms and ecological environment should be respected, and the coordinated development of the whole ecosystem should be achieved asfar aspossible.

The principle of justice can protect consumers’right to know and option right.Under the principle of justice,one of the important measures is the improvement of labeling system.It is an unavoidable fact that genetically modified foods penetrate into people’s life.People cannot clear about the safety of genetically modified food,but the labeling system of genetically modified foods gives people more choices to make their own value judgments.The principle of justice is also an important principle to eliminate the information asymmetry caused by the ethical of transgenic technology.

In international trade,developed countries trade with developing countries unfairly through gene patents and technological monopoly,which violates the principle of justice.Therefore,the author advocates the principle of justice and equal cooperation so as to make the development of genetically modified foodsin theinternational fair.

3.Principleof Responsibility

Current transgenic technology can gain new traits in an organism that without sexual hybridization,which can come from the same species or even from different species.The achievements have greatly satisfied people’s material needs,stimulated greater desire to carry out technical research and development without limitation.In afew decades of development of transgenic technology,people can see that transgenic technology has impacts on human health and ecological environment. Therefore, the development of transgenic technology needs to be restrained by ethics.

People should observe different principle of responsibility according to the subjects involved in transgenic technology.In the process of research and development of transgenic technology,countries should undertake the responsibility of supervision,establish a sound regulatory legal system,design an effective regulatory system,and integrate related resources for unified management.And the public should take the responsibility of actively mastering knowledge related to transgenic technology and consciously in abid toavoid theethical problemsand misunderstanding and abuse of transgenic technology.While,researchers should take the responsibility to ensure the safety of transgenic technology to provide accurate research data and develop safe genetically modified foods.They should comply with the code of ethics and be responsible for human safety and ecological environment.

Conclusion

As a double-edged sword,Science and technology bringsgreat benefits to human society,but also brings negative effects,which causes the discussion on the safety of transgenic technology.The safety of genetically modified foods has become increasingly prominent.It has become a new approach to research on the safety of transgenic technology from the perspective of the generation of ethical problems.

Through analyzing the cause of ethical problems,the author puts forward three principles should be followed inclduing the principle of non-maleficence,justice and responsibility.The author hope it can help people correctly analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the transgenic technology, promote transgenic technology developing in a good and right direction,which has certain practical significancefor thepresent study.