Synonyms
Food and agricultural biotechnology; Genetically engineered food; Genetically modified organisms; Transgenic crops and food animals
Introduction
GMO (acronym for “genetically modified organism”) is a colloquialism applied to food and agricultural applications of advanced biotechnology, especially plants and animals containing transgenes (that is, gene sequences derived from species other than the recipient organism). The expression is never applied to biomedical applications of gene transfer. GMOs have been the subject of controversy since the 1980s, when they first began to be discussed. This article includes a brief historical overview of the debate, focusing especially on the early years when opposing positions were initially established. It is questionable as to whether GMOs would present particularly significant case studies for business ethics were it is not for the intensity of the surrounding controversy. However, given the hardened suspicions of opponents, key...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Baram M (1996) LMOs: treasure chest or Pandora’s box? Environ Health Perspect 104:704
Beebe L (2003) In re StarLink Corn: the link between genetically damaged crops and an inadequate regulatory framework for biotechnology. William Mary Environ Law Policy Rev 28:511–538
Borlaug NE (2000) Ending world hunger. The promise of biotechnology and the threat of antiscience zealotry. Plant Physiol 124:487–490
Bruening G, Lyons J (2000) The case of the FLAVR SAVR tomato. Calif Agric 54(4):6–7
Charles D (2001) Lords of the harvest: Biotech, big money, and the future of food. Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA
Comstock G (2000) Vexing nature?: on the ethical case against agricultural biotechnology. Springer Science & Business Media, Dordrecht
Fox JL (2003) Puzzling industry response to ProdiGene fiasco. Nat Biotechnol 21:3–4
Gaskell G, Allum N, Wagner W, Kronberger N, Torgersen H, Hampel J, Bardes J (2004) GM foods and the misperception of risk perception. Risk Anal 24:185–194
Hallberg MC (ed) (1992) Bovine somatotropin and emerging issues: an assessment. Westview Press, Boulder
Herring RJ (2015) State science, risk and agricultural biotechnology: Bt cotton to Bt Brinjal in India. J Peasant Stud 42:159–186
Howard P (2017) Concentration and power in the food system: who controls what we eat? The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Kinchy A (2013) Seeds, science and struggle: the global politics of transgenic crops. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
McFadden BR (2017) The unknowns and possible implications of mandatory labeling. Trends Biotechnol 35:1–3
Miki B, McHugh S (2004) Selectable marker genes in transgenic plants: applications, alternatives and biosafety. J Biotechnol 107:193–232
Paarlberg R (2009) Starved for science: how biotechnology is being kept out of Africa. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Rissler J, Mellon MG (1996) The ecological risks of engineered crops. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Shelton AM, Sears MK (2001) The monarch butterfly controversy: scientific interpretations of a phenomenon. Plant J 27:483–488
Shiva V (2016) Biopiracy: the plunder of nature and knowledge. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley
Streiffer R, Rubel A (2004) Democratic principles and mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food. Public Aff Q 18:223–248
Thompson PB (2002) Why food biotechnology needs an opt out. In: Bailey B, Lappé M (eds) Engineering the farm: ethical and social aspects of agricultural biotechnology. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 27–44
Thompson PB (2007) Food biotechnology in ethical perspective, 2nd edn. Springer, Dordrecht
Thompson PB (2014) The GMO quandary and what it means for social philosophy. Soc Philos Today 30:7–27
Weirich P (ed) (2007) Labeling genetically modified food: the philosophical and legal debate. Oxford University Press, New York
Wiber MG (2009) “What innocent bystanders?”: the impact of law and economics reasoning on rural property rights. Anthropologica 51:29–38
Zerbe N (2004) Feeding the famine? American food aid and the GMO debate in Southern Africa. Food Policy 29:593–608
Ziff B (2005) Travels with my plant: Monsanto v. Schmeiser revisited. Univ Ottawa Law Technol J 2:493–509
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Thompson, P.B. (2023). GMOs. In: Poff, D.C., Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22767-8_343
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22767-8_343
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22765-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22767-8
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities