Property rights and genetic engineering: Developing nations at risk

Science and Engineering Ethics 11 (1):137-149 (2005)
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Abstract

Eighty percent of (commercial) genetically engineered seeds (GES) are designed only to resist herbicides. Letting farmers use more chemicals, they cut labor costs. But developing nations say GES cause food shortages, unemployment, resistant weeds, and extinction of native cultivars when “volunteers” drift nearby. While GES patents are reasonable, this paper argues many patent policies are not. The paper surveys GE technology, outlines John Locke’s classic account of property rights, and argues that current patent policies must be revised to take account of Lockean ethical constraints. After answering a key objection, it provides concrete suggestions for implementing its ethical conclusions.

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Kristin Shrader-Frechette
University of Notre Dame

Citations of this work

Monumental Questions.Daniel Sportiello - 2018 - Northern Plains Ethics Journal 6 (1):1–17.
Ethical Perceptions of Genetically Modified Crops in Malaysia.Latifah Amin, N. A. Ahmad Azlan & J. Ahmad - 2014 - Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 24 (2):50-60.

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References found in this work

Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - New York: Basic Books.
Principia ethica.George Edward Moore - 1903 - Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. Edited by Thomas Baldwin.
Two treatises of government.John Locke - 1947 - New York: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Peter Laslett.
Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - Philosophy 52 (199):102-105.
Principia Ethica.G. E. Moore - 1903 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 13 (3):7-9.

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