GMO

Ethical Concerns
ENS309- Ethics in Engineering-SPRING2023
Assist.Prof.Dr. Jasmin Šutković
Genetic and Bioengineering programe
IUS
23.3.2023
 GMO
Genetically Modified Organisms
 What is bioengineering:
Agricultural and biological engineering are evolving fields
that integrate the principles of biological sciences and
genetic engineering and use them to create, improve or
modify plants, seeds and microorganisms.

The innovation of this kind of technology, which is becoming the most

debatable issue in agriculture of the last years, belongs to large food
and pharmaceutical companies.
 The first genetically modified organism, officially approved in the USA
by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) on 18 May 1994, was „Flavr
Savr‟ - a tomato hybrid produced by the Calgene, a California based
company, in which alien genes were inserted in order to preserve
tomato longer after its harvesting.
 GM crops
GM crops are grown around the world by
approximately 17 million farmers, most of them in
developing countries.
In total, more than 70 countries import or grow
GMOs, and in 2019, 29 countries (five industrial
and 24 developing) planted biotech crops.  As of
2019, the top five countries growing GMOs in
terms of crop area are the United States, Brazil,
Argentina, Canada and India.
Genetically Modified Foods
and Their Pros And Cons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCNgtZYZn6g
BIH LAW
 The problem for the developing
countries
The food companies, the governments of the
countries that are related to these companies
and some farmers, claim that GM seeds:

• increase the production and stability of the crops,

• raise the income of the farmers and
• contribute a lot to reduce of poverty and increase of
prosperity of the developing countries.
• The increase of production and stability of the
crops are due to the tolerance of GMOs to
difficult weather conditions and to their
resistance to pests.

• Food industry also claims that GMOs are testing

very scholastically and there are no reasons for
fear of the effects on human’s health.
 On the other hand, the opponents of the GMOs, that
are consisted of environmentalists, the poor farmers,
NGOs and the governments of some countries declare
that the problem of the poverty in developing countries is
not due to inadequate production of crops but due to the
unequal distribution of economic and natural resources.

• Governments of some developing countries claim that

the cultivation of GMOs will pose in threat the already
sensitive economies of these countries as the poor
farmers cannot afford buying the modified seeds.
• Many international agreements require that each country
which cultivates GM crops is responsible to implement
administrative and technical measures in order to reduce
the potential risks for the environment. However,
monitoring and testing of the seeds have a great cost
that most of the developing countries cannot bear.

• Furthermore, many scientists express their concerns

about genetic modified foods and their consequences on
people’s health and on the environment particularly in
the developing countries where an outbreak of any
disease or any allergic reaction in population cannot be
controlled easily due to their poor health care systems.
 New York Times study
• According to a recent article in the New
York Times, most consumers don’t know
or realize that for decades they have been
consuming foods that have been
developed through bioengineering
including crossbreeding, irradiating, and
chemically inducing gene mutations to
achieve desired characteristics!!!
 Ethical aspects
The supporters of GMOs technology believe:

• that these products ensure food security in the

world and may reduce the problem of hunger
especially in the countries which face the threat
of overpopulation.
• GMOs protect the yields of the crops and
consequently the income of the farmers
• GMOs protect the environment from the
pesticides and other dangerous chemicals.
 The supporters of GMOs also believe that:

• developing countries have the right to follow the

technological progress of the developed countries and
GMOs technology helps towards this direction.

• Moreover, GMOs producers believe that moving genes

around is just a technical issue with no moral
implications-a view known as “reductionist” ideology of
biotech. Reductionism maintains that genes are
independent entities and human beings can intervene to
them as natural order and individual traits are not
unique.
 The opponents of GMOs believe:

• that biotech does not solve the food problem worldwide

as it condemns in poverty many farmers in developing
countries and poses in danger the crops and the
environment as it restricts biodiversity.

• Poor countries believe that the support of the small

farmers and the investments in the rural communities are
the essential components of social justice and the basis
for the development of the local economies.
 My opinion
I believe that the implementation of the biotech in
agriculture may have an informational role rather than an
engineering one.

The evolution of the technology which led scientists to

study and map the genetic code of agricultural plants
can be used to enhance traditional breeding or improve
our understanding of how plants grow, how they react to
the various weather conditions, droughts, floods, and
diseases.

The understanding of the genetic code could help

scientists to improve the organic agricultural methods.
I believe that GMO products must be labeled! The
consumers must know if they consume GMO

I believe that organic cultivation is better model but needs

investments for infrastructure in agriculture, technical
support of the farmers and the preservation of the
biodiversity.
 Check this debate!

Should we embrace GM food?

- five-minute debate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rysVKetHYU