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     Biotechnology can be good or bad for animals - and it may also produce an answer to the ethical problems of experimenting on animals. BUT genetically modified animals raise a particularly difficult problem. Ethical issues can arise of an individual genetically engineered animal. The use of genetically modified organisms is still a new practice. The long-term effects of this technology are yet to be seen, and so we must proceed with caution as we develop.

 

Genetically modified animals

raises social and ethical implications.

 

Human Problems

  • Many people worry about the danger that genetically engineered animals pose to humans, especially health issues, moreso than any dangers to the animals themselves.

  • Allergies have occured, mostly in genetically modified crops, which poses a threat to human health.

Animal Rights

  • Genetic engineering and selective breeding violate animal rights throught the manipulation of animals for human benefits.

  • Animals seem to be nothing more than human property, and are treated with lesser value.

 

 

Animal Welfare

  • Genetically modifying animals may benefit them.

    • Disease resistant, breeding to remove any characteristincs that may cause the animal injury.

  • ​BUT, genetic engineering can be harmful.

    • what humans may consider 'good effects' may be painful side effects for the animals.

    • GM pigs that grow super fast, too fast for their hearts, feel discomfort or pain when they are too active.

Biotechnology and Experimental Animals

  • Experimenting on animals for human benefit is not right.

  • Scientists want to create a genetically modified animal that is not able to perceive or feel things, but is still identical to a normal experimental animal. In theory, it would not feel pain, it would not suffer whatsoever, no matter the experiment. So, there should be no ethical concerns correct? However this raises some questions:

    • This debate seems acceptable, but are you comfotable with it?

    • Would it be wrong to create humans that can't feel, and experiment on them?

  • Although this looks like it would be a better alternative, it doesn't feel right because the animal would still be used for human benefit. It would be nothing more than an object we use and will eventually toss it in the trash when we are done with it.

Transgenic Animals

  • Transgenic animals are often purposely bred with genetic defects.

  • These animals suffer long since they are studied by researchers and experimented on for long periods of time. 

  • They tend to have a bad quality life.

  • Again, many questions are asked about the ethics

    • Is it morally wrong to change the genetic make-up of an animal for a specific objectif without knowing any side effects that may occur?

    • Is it an unethical alteration of the natural order of thses animals?

      • There is a reason why these animals do not exist naturally. If they were meant to be like the genetically engineered animals we see today, wouldn't they have evolved to do so?

    • ​Does creating genetically modified animals give us the right to objectify them?

Religious Views

  • Some views are against genetically engineered animals.

    • Religious communities point out that God created the animals as they are and that to mess with them is a sin.

    • They also argue that manipulating their DNA is manipulating 'life itself'.

    • It is wrong to tamper with what God did not intend to be tampered with.

  • Other views are in favour to genetically engineering animals.

    • They say that in a way we 'own' animals so it is our right to tamper with them.

    • Another poit they make is that nothing is fixed in creation. The structure of creation has changed over time ( species going instinct, new ones are discovered ) so  if it happens naturally, why not speed up the process?

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