Public Perception of Biotechnology:: Genetic Engineering - Safety, Social, Moral and Ethical Considerations

Chapter 14
Public perception of biotechnology:

genetic engineering – safety, social, moral
and ethical considerations
 gene technology is a controversial and emotive subject.
 In the industrialized world, public policy makers on
biotechnology have been influenced by the concerted
interests of governments, industries, academia and
environmental groups.
 Nationally and internationally, such policies are being
developed within a climate of tension and conflicting
aims.
 It does appear that new biotechnology provokes a variety
of views within the public that have not been apparent
with many other new technologies.
 Opinions are influenced by nationality, religion, ethics,
morality and knowledge of the core sciences;while risk
assessment is seldom considered by opponents.
 A dominant feature of public perception of biotechnology
is the low public understanding of the genetic basis of life
and evolution.
Safety of biotechnology:
It is important to note that after hundreds of thousands of
studies involving rDNA and the development of many
medically useful products used in millions of patients a
year, the safety of humans, animals and the environment
has been maintained.
This clearly demonstrates that high levels of safety and
control are being practiced by the exponents of new
biotechnology.
A comprehensive regulatory framework is now in place
within the EU and most Western nations, with the aim of
protecting human health and the environment from adverse
activities involving genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Release of genetically manipulated organisms into the
environment
 In the 1970s, when genetic engineering experiments with

microorganisms were first being developed, many molecular
biologists believed that the process was unsafe and that
manipulated microorganisms should be strictly contained and
prevented from release to the environment.
 The fundamental fear was, and with many still is, that
genetically engineered microorganisms could escape from the
laboratory into the environment with unpredictable and
perhaps catastrophic consequences.
 It was believed that such released microorganisms could
‘upset the balance of nature’ or that ‘foreign DNA’ in
the new microorganism could alter its metabolic activity
in unpredictable and undesirable ways.
 In response to these concerns, guidelines were
established to ensure safe working practices and levels
of control based on potential hazards
Genetic modification and food uses
While the public have readily accepted medical products
produced from genetically modified organisms (GMOs),
they are much less willing to accept such procedures with
food. Genetic engineering is seen as ‘unnatural’ and
unnecessary in food production.
Although, scientific opinion is well respected in medical
matters by the public, it is often supposed, in matters of
food, as purely commercially driven
The overall aims of the food industry,
with respect to genetic engineering, will be:
 to increase the quantity
 Improve the quality
 Enhance the properties of existing food productions
 to produce new products
 to improve financial returns.
Genetic modification and food uses
The application of genetic engineering to food production is

intended to enhance the useful and desirable characteristics
of the genetically modified Microorganisms (GMOs)used in
food production and to eliminate the undesirable
characteristics.
 Foods or food ingredients derived from GMOs must be
considered to be as safe as, or safer than, their traditional
counterparts before they can be recommended as safe
main ethical concerns relating to the food
use of certain transgenic organisms:
An early UK report (by the Committee on the Ethics of
Genetic Modification and Food Use, 1993) identified some of
the main ethical concerns relating to the food use of certain
transgenic organisms:
(1)Transfer of human genes to food animals
(e.g. transfer of human gene for factor IX, a protein involved
in blood clotting, into sheep)
(2) Transfer of genes from animals whose flesh is forbidden
for use as food by certain religious groups into animals
which they normally eat (e.g. pig genes into sheep would
offend Jews and Muslims);
(3) Transfer of animal genes into food plants which may be
of particular concern to some vegetarians
(4) Use of organisms containing human genes as animal feed

(e.g. yeast modified to produce human proteins of
pharmaceutical value and the spent yeast then used as animal
feed).
 continued development and use of food rDNA biotechnology provide a number
of important benefits to society:
 a more abundant and economical food supply for the world;
 continued improvements in nutritional quality, including foods of unique composition for
populations whose diets lack essential nutrients;
 fresh fruit and vegetables with improved shelf life;
 the development of functional foods, vaccines and similar products, which
may provide health and medical benefits;
 further improvements in production agriculture through more efficient production
practices and increased yields;
 the conversion of non-productive toxic soils, in developing countries, to
productive arable land;
 more environmentally friendly agricultural practices through improved pesticides
and pesticide-usage practices, less hazardous animal wastes, improved
utilisation of land, and reduced need for ecologically sensitive areas such as
rainforests.
The applications of human genetic research
Several thousand genetic disorders of humans would appear
to result from a mutation in single genes, while many others
have more complex genetic explanations and even possible
interactions with environmental factors.
Results from the Human Genome Project are now
considered to offer an increased understanding of these
fundamental genetic malfunctions and to give, in some
cases, hope for alleviation and perhaps cure of the defect.
However, paralleling the scientific breakthroughs and deeper
understandings of gene mechanisms have come many areas
of public concern
Genetic testing and screening
Where genetic disorders have previously been observed in
families, it is now possible in some cases to carry out
pre-natal testing to discover whether the fetus carries the
defect. The parents may then be able to sanction an
abortion or be better prepared for the needs of the full-term
baby.
There are obvious concerns that this could result in a wide
range of other conditions being selected for termination,
e.g. gender and diseases of a minor nature.
 it may be possible to have a much fuller awareness of an
individual’s ‘genetic set’ and possibly to diagnose future
medical problems, e.g. heart disease and cancer, and
advise treatment well in advance of the onset of the
disease.
 Perhaps the most worrying aspect of such genetic testing is
the use to which such information could be put by
insurance and mortgage institutions.
 such financial systems would reduce the risk aspect of
their investments, while the effects on the individual
would be devastating.
 It is increasingly viewed by ethics’ committees that insurance
companies should not require, or be allowed access to, an
individual’s genetic information as a prerequisite for insurance.
This may well prove to be an impossible task to monitor and
control.
 In some condition like somatic-cell gene therapy involving the
insertion of single genes into a patient is really no different from
the long-accepted practice of transplants, e.g. hearts and lungs,
from other individuals therefore from an ethical viewpoint It is
considered that such treatments should be used only to alleviate
serious medical disorders and not for non-therapeutic
applications.

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Chapter 14

Public perception of biotechnology:

 In the 1970s, when genetic engineering experiments with

The application of genetic engineering to food production is

(4) Use of organisms containing human genes as animal feed

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