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Articles

Biotechnologies: Tweaking Here, Tuning There. Is that all we need?

Following on from last issue’s focus on medical ethics and bioethics, Inmaculada de Melo-Martín says we aren’t thinking deeply enough about what the problems with bioethics really are.

As with other technologies, biotechnologies have their detractors and supporters. Advocates of biotechnology maintain that it benefits humans, animals, and the environment. Humans profit from new drugs, more nutritious food, more reproductive choices, genetic therapies, and the possibility of enhancing particular desirable traits. By introducing new crops that grow faster and better, less land would be needed to feed the increasing population, and thus humans will not go hungry and environmental degradation could be slowed. Also, these new agricultural products would reduce the need for hazardous pesticides and herbicides, thus lessening soil and water contamination.

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