Ebook: Vexing Nature?: On the Ethical Case Against Agricultural Biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology refers to a diverse set of industrial techniques used to produce genetically modified foods. Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods manipulated at the molecular level to enhance their value to farmers and consumers. This book is a collection of essays on the ethical dimensions of ag biotech. The essays were written over a dozen years, beginning in 1988. When I began to reflect on the subject, ag biotech was an exotic, untested, technology. Today, in the first year of the millenium, the vast majority of consumers in the United States have taken a bite of the apple. Milk produced by cows injected with a GM protein called recombinant bovine growth hormone (bGH), is found, unlabelled, on grocery shelves throughout the US. In 1999, half of the soybeans and cotton harvested in the US were GM varieties. Billions of dollars of public and private monies are being invested annually in biotech research, and commercial sales now reach into the tens of billions of dollars each year. I Whereas ag biotech once promised to change American agriculture, it now is in the process of doing so.

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Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case Against Agricultural Biotechnology is a collection of philosophical essays on the ethical dimensions of agricultural biotechnology and genetically modified (GM) crops. Agricultural biotechnology refers to a diverse set of industrial techniques used to produce genetically modified foods. Genetically modified (GM) crops are plants manipulated at the molecular level to enhance their value to farmers and consumers.
The ethical issues discussed in Vexing Nature? On the Ethical CaseAgainst Agricultural Biotechnology are diverse and complex. Comstock addresses such concerns as the possibility of genetic engineering producing unanticipated allergens in previously safe foods, unexpectedly toxic health supplements, novel GM diseases, environmental catastrophe, bizarre new lines of animals possessing genes taken from humans, exceedingly wealthy corporations more powerful than the nations trying to regulate them, bankrupted family farmers in the US and Europe, exploited peasant farmers in developing countries, inhumanely treated animals in our labs and on our farms, and corrupted attitudes to nature among our children.
In a fascinating narrative account of a journey that began in 1988 and ended twelve years later, Comstock tells the story of how he, an early and somewhat vocal critic of agricultural biotechnology, changed his mind about the ethical acceptability of GM organisms (GMO). Once tempted to oppose all uses of genetic engineering in agriculture, Comstock came to believe that many uses are morally justifiable, and even required. Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case Against AgriculturalBiotechnology explains his early, anti-GMO, position; the ethical, environmental, economic, social justice and animal rights arguments that led him to reverse himself; and the implications of his new position for public policy.

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Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case Against Agricultural Biotechnology is a collection of philosophical essays on the ethical dimensions of agricultural biotechnology and genetically modified (GM) crops. Agricultural biotechnology refers to a diverse set of industrial techniques used to produce genetically modified foods. Genetically modified (GM) crops are plants manipulated at the molecular level to enhance their value to farmers and consumers.
The ethical issues discussed in Vexing Nature? On the Ethical CaseAgainst Agricultural Biotechnology are diverse and complex. Comstock addresses such concerns as the possibility of genetic engineering producing unanticipated allergens in previously safe foods, unexpectedly toxic health supplements, novel GM diseases, environmental catastrophe, bizarre new lines of animals possessing genes taken from humans, exceedingly wealthy corporations more powerful than the nations trying to regulate them, bankrupted family farmers in the US and Europe, exploited peasant farmers in developing countries, inhumanely treated animals in our labs and on our farms, and corrupted attitudes to nature among our children.
In a fascinating narrative account of a journey that began in 1988 and ended twelve years later, Comstock tells the story of how he, an early and somewhat vocal critic of agricultural biotechnology, changed his mind about the ethical acceptability of GM organisms (GMO). Once tempted to oppose all uses of genetic engineering in agriculture, Comstock came to believe that many uses are morally justifiable, and even required. Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case Against AgriculturalBiotechnology explains his early, anti-GMO, position; the ethical, environmental, economic, social justice and animal rights arguments that led him to reverse himself; and the implications of his new position for public policy.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Introduction....Pages 1-11
The Case Against bGH (1988)....Pages 13-33
Against Herbicide Resistance (1990)....Pages 35-93
Against Transgenic Animals (1992)....Pages 95-138
Against Ag Biotech (1994)....Pages 139-173
Problems for the Case Against Ag Biotech, Part I: Intrinsic Objections....Pages 175-224
Problems for the Case Against Ag Biotech, Part II: Extrinsic Objections....Pages 225-283
Conclusion....Pages 285-288
Back Matter....Pages 289-297

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Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case Against Agricultural Biotechnology is a collection of philosophical essays on the ethical dimensions of agricultural biotechnology and genetically modified (GM) crops. Agricultural biotechnology refers to a diverse set of industrial techniques used to produce genetically modified foods. Genetically modified (GM) crops are plants manipulated at the molecular level to enhance their value to farmers and consumers.
The ethical issues discussed in Vexing Nature? On the Ethical CaseAgainst Agricultural Biotechnology are diverse and complex. Comstock addresses such concerns as the possibility of genetic engineering producing unanticipated allergens in previously safe foods, unexpectedly toxic health supplements, novel GM diseases, environmental catastrophe, bizarre new lines of animals possessing genes taken from humans, exceedingly wealthy corporations more powerful than the nations trying to regulate them, bankrupted family farmers in the US and Europe, exploited peasant farmers in developing countries, inhumanely treated animals in our labs and on our farms, and corrupted attitudes to nature among our children.
In a fascinating narrative account of a journey that began in 1988 and ended twelve years later, Comstock tells the story of how he, an early and somewhat vocal critic of agricultural biotechnology, changed his mind about the ethical acceptability of GM organisms (GMO). Once tempted to oppose all uses of genetic engineering in agriculture, Comstock came to believe that many uses are morally justifiable, and even required. Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case Against AgriculturalBiotechnology explains his early, anti-GMO, position; the ethical, environmental, economic, social justice and animal rights arguments that led him to reverse himself; and the implications of his new position for public policy.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Introduction....Pages 1-11
The Case Against bGH (1988)....Pages 13-33
Against Herbicide Resistance (1990)....Pages 35-93
Against Transgenic Animals (1992)....Pages 95-138
Against Ag Biotech (1994)....Pages 139-173
Problems for the Case Against Ag Biotech, Part I: Intrinsic Objections....Pages 175-224
Problems for the Case Against Ag Biotech, Part II: Extrinsic Objections....Pages 225-283
Conclusion....Pages 285-288
Back Matter....Pages 289-297
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