NGO perspectives on the social and ethical dimensions of plant genome-editing

Helliwell, Richard; Hartley, Sarah; Pearce, Warren

Abstract

Plant genome editing has the potential to become another chapter in the intractable debate that has dogged agricultural biotechnology. In 2016, 107 Nobel Laureates accused Greenpeace of emotional and dogmatic campaigning against agricultural biotechnology and called for governments to defy such campaigning. The Laureates invoke the authority of science to argue that Greenpeace is putting lives at risk by opposing agricultural biotechnology and Golden Rice and is notable in framing Greenpeace as unethical and its views as marginal. This paper examines environmental, food and farming NGOs’ social and ethical concerns about genome editing, situating these concerns in comparison to alternative ethical assessments provided by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, a key actor in this policy debate. In doing so, we show that participant NGOs and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics share considerable concerns about the social and ethical implications of genome editing. These concerns include choices over problem/solution framing and broader terminology, implications of regulatory and research choices on consumer choice and relations of power. However, GM-engaged NGOs and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics diverge on one important area: the NGOs seek to challenge the existing order and broaden the scope of debate to include deeply political questions regarding agricultural and technological choices. This distinction between the ethical positions means that NGOs provide valuable ethical insight and a useful lens to open up debate and discussion on the role of emerging technologies, such as genome editing, and the future of agriculture and food sovereignty.

Citation

Helliwell, R., Hartley, S., & Pearce, W. (2019). NGO perspectives on the social and ethical dimensions of plant genome-editing. Agriculture and Human Values, 36(4), 779–791. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-09956-9

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 11, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 14, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Aug 6, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 15, 2020
• Journal: Agriculture and Human Values
• Print ISSN: 0889-048X
• Electronic ISSN: 1572-8366
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 779–791
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-09956-9
• Keywords: Agricultural biotechnology, Plant genome editing, NGOs, Ethics, Nuffield council on bioethics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2396945
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10460-019-09956-9
• Additional Information: This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Agriculture and Human Values. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-09956-9