Transgenic and cloned animals: Ethical problems - Agrocampus Ouest
Transgenic and cloned animals: Ethical problems - Agrocampus Ouest
Transgenic and cloned animals: Ethical problems - Agrocampus Ouest
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<strong>Transgenic</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>cloned</strong><br />
<strong>animals</strong>: <strong>Ethical</strong><br />
<strong>problems</strong> ?<br />
Camara D.,<br />
Dimitrova Ir.,<br />
Doynova M.,<br />
Jachacz L.,<br />
Kachakova D.,<br />
Kepka M.,<br />
Ould Isselmou CB.,<br />
Vorniere JP.,<br />
Yungarva Tsv.,
Transgenesis:<br />
Definition<br />
Definitions <strong>and</strong> methods<br />
A transgenic animal is an animal that has been genetically altered so that it will<br />
produce a specific protein. Foreign DNA has been inserted into the animal’s<br />
DNA so it will produce a protein it does not normally have.<br />
Methods:<br />
- isolation of a specific gene<br />
- the gene is inserted into a plasmid <strong>and</strong> then replicated inside a bacteria<br />
- isolation of the gene from the bacteria <strong>and</strong> creation a linear bit of DNA<br />
- foreign DNA can be inserted in a number of different ways.
Cloning:<br />
Definitions <strong>and</strong> methods<br />
Cloning is the process of making an identical copy of something. In biology, it<br />
collectively refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments<br />
(molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms.<br />
Reproductive cloning uses:<br />
-"somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT) to create <strong>animals</strong> that are<br />
genetically identical.<br />
This process entails the transfer of a nucleus from a donor adult cell<br />
(somatic cell) to an egg which has no nucleus.
Applications:<br />
Transgenesis:<br />
There are several potential <strong>and</strong> actual applications of transgenic<br />
<strong>animals</strong> :<br />
a) in basic research;<br />
b) as a source of organs for xenotransplantation;<br />
c) as disease models;<br />
d) in the production of therapeutic proteins (that is, as bioreactors);<br />
e) in agriculture (for example, the manipulation of livestock<br />
production traits);<br />
f) for vaccine testing; <strong>and</strong><br />
g) in toxicity testing
Cloning:<br />
Applications:<br />
Possible aims of farm animal cloning:<br />
a) research: deeper knowledge of certain biological processes in<br />
the organism of <strong>animals</strong>;<br />
b) pharming: to produce pharmaceuticals or donor organs in<br />
<strong>animals</strong>;<br />
c) farming: to ensure:<br />
- quantitatively more products (e.g. more milk or more meat)<br />
- a better quality
Dolly the Sheep<br />
Dolly was the first mammal to have been successfully <strong>cloned</strong> from an adult cell.<br />
Cloning Dolly the sheep had a low success rate per fertilized egg; she was born<br />
after 277 eggs were used to create 29 embryos, which only produced three<br />
lambs at birth, only one of which lived
• Consequences of Transgenesis for Animal<br />
Welfare<br />
Three factors that may negatively influence the health <strong>and</strong> welfare of<br />
transgenic <strong>animals</strong> have been identified:<br />
a) reproductive <strong>and</strong> other biotechnological interventions;<br />
b) mutations;<br />
c) expression of the transgene.<br />
Should we make such <strong>animals</strong>?<br />
- It is unethical <strong>and</strong> immoral to use humans for testing new therapeutic drugs,<br />
that’s why disease model <strong>animals</strong> serve a strong benefit to society
• Consequences of Cloning for Animal Welfare<br />
Invasive medical interventions. These are performed on donor <strong>animals</strong> — for<br />
oocyte extraction — <strong>and</strong> on surrogate mothers. Oocyte extraction for pigs <strong>and</strong><br />
sheep is usually surgical, with all the accompanying stresses of recovery.<br />
Suffering caused to surrogate mothers. Pregnancy is typically prolonged <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>cloned</strong> calves <strong>and</strong> lambs may be 25 % heavier than normal. Higher birth weights<br />
lead to painful births <strong>and</strong> often the need for caesarean section.<br />
Abnormal foetal development <strong>and</strong> late pregnancy mortality, leading to<br />
frequent death at various stages of development.<br />
Postnatal mortality.<br />
Health <strong>problems</strong> during life. Clones may have a greater propensity in later life<br />
for respiratory <strong>problems</strong> <strong>and</strong> immune system deficiencies compared with normal<br />
<strong>animals</strong>.<br />
Inefficiency <strong>and</strong> wastage of life (this includes embryos, foetuses <strong>and</strong> mature<br />
<strong>animals</strong> — these are killed as part of the procedures).
• <strong>Transgenic</strong> Ethic<br />
• Positiv aspects<br />
– Medical:<br />
• Ex: desease models,<br />
tranpharming models,<br />
xenotransplanters<br />
– Scientific:<br />
• Animals engineered to<br />
overexpress a specific<br />
protein to help to discover<br />
protein function<br />
– Food providing:<br />
• Ex: Superfish<br />
• Improvement by genes<br />
• Negativ aspects:<br />
– Destroy the animal integrity<br />
– “playing God”<br />
– Loss of genetic diversity<br />
– Environment hazard, animal<br />
suffering..<br />
– Who is really benefitting?<br />
• Human species?<br />
• Biotech investors?
• Religion <strong>and</strong> Ethics<br />
Protestants, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu <strong>and</strong> Buddhis<br />
faiths have rejected animal cloning on ethical ground.<br />
Jews <strong>and</strong> Christians are opposed to animal cruelty but…<br />
- Animals are not considered as sacred as the human soul.<br />
- Because they lack reason, <strong>animals</strong> may be reasonably used for<br />
human benefit.<br />
Hinduism <strong>and</strong> Buddhism consider <strong>animals</strong> as vital energetic<br />
beings <strong>and</strong> they must be treated as such.
• Religion <strong>and</strong> <strong>Transgenic</strong> Ethics (rest)<br />
• Muslim ethics are guided by the Qur’an <strong>and</strong><br />
hadith.<br />
-The controlling concept is “tawhid” concept or the absolute unity of<br />
God.<br />
- whatever is not forbidden by God is allowed within the boundaries<br />
of the Qur’an,<br />
- <strong>animals</strong> may be used for the benefit of mankind. Islam welcomes<br />
genetic engineering as it does all new discoveries that help ease<br />
the suffering of humanity.
Transgenesis :<br />
• Public Acceptability<br />
Significant lack of public support for animal transgenesis :<br />
•Nearly 50% of Europeans might not allow production <strong>and</strong> use of certain<br />
forms of transgenic <strong>animals</strong>.<br />
•Some believe, however, that scientists, as guardians of scientific<br />
knowledge, possess the only correct view, while the public are ill-informed<br />
or misled.<br />
•Others argue that considerations within the scientific community are<br />
considerably influenced by self-interest <strong>and</strong> professional loyalties. Some<br />
argue that the application of transgenic technologies is incompatible with<br />
the Three Rs concept.<br />
•Other key ethical concepts about which the general public <strong>and</strong> scientists<br />
often disagree are "naturalness", "integrity", <strong>and</strong> "intrinsic/inherent value"
• Public Acceptability (rest)<br />
• For some people Cloning :<br />
– Is unnatural,<br />
– violates the realm of the Creator<br />
– violates the animal’s integrity, dignity, sentience<br />
capacity<br />
63% of the American wouldn’t buy food from <strong>cloned</strong><br />
<strong>animals</strong><br />
In Europe, people think that other alternatives exist<br />
to provide sufficient food
Some ethical questions ?
Am I cannibal if I eat some food from animal which<br />
had been transplanted with a human gene?<br />
Pol<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Bulgaria: consuming food <strong>and</strong> milk from<br />
transgenic <strong>animals</strong> is not cannibalism<br />
- it doesn’t harm any human, doesn’t violate the human integrity.<br />
France: a gene is a material,<br />
- It has been lent to an animal which will use it himself.<br />
- The animal has his own capacity to integrate this new material.<br />
- Even if I am not cannibal, this process isn’t natural <strong>and</strong> it harms the<br />
integrity of the animal.
<strong>Transgenic</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>cloned</strong> <strong>animals</strong> are monsters?<br />
Pol<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Bulgaria: Bulgaria no,<br />
- there is no effect on the humanity.<br />
- If transgenesis is out of control we can say that <strong>animals</strong> are<br />
monsters.<br />
- <strong>Transgenic</strong> <strong>animals</strong> are not monsters but they can’t be<br />
found naturally.<br />
- Cloned <strong>animals</strong> look like the original so they are neither monster.<br />
France: yes<br />
- <strong>Transgenic</strong> <strong>animals</strong> are no longer natural.<br />
- ex: a gene of growth will engender a bigger animal than we<br />
usually see, <strong>and</strong> then it frightens people<br />
- Cloned <strong>animals</strong> are a copy of nature<br />
- no monsters
Transgenesis <strong>and</strong> <strong>cloned</strong> animal: Is there any<br />
propagation risks? Are they a threat for<br />
biodiversity?<br />
• Pol<strong>and</strong>: Transgenesis doesn’t threat biodiversity<br />
- It increases biodiversity = <strong>animals</strong> have a new genome.<br />
- But natural selection lasted a million years whereas selection by transgenesis<br />
can last shorter.<br />
- Cloning, = Bulgarian students.<br />
• Bulgaria: Creating too many <strong>cloned</strong> <strong>animals</strong> reduces<br />
biodiversity.<br />
- <strong>Transgenic</strong> <strong>animals</strong> don’t threat biodiversity <strong>and</strong> they may increase it.<br />
- Concerning propagation risks, maybe there are some risks that depend on animal<br />
species.<br />
• France: not at short term because of the possible creation of<br />
new species but yes at long term.<br />
- Indeed breeding in aquatic environment can be compared in terms of risks with the<br />
field crops.<br />
- intraspecific competition (Ex: perch of the Nile in Lake Victoria, Tanzania).<br />
- No threat concerning cloning
Does animal suffering from cloning or<br />
transgenesis exist?<br />
• Pol<strong>and</strong>: <strong>animals</strong> feel pain <strong>and</strong> suffer like humans.<br />
– Scientists shouldn’t make experiments with dolphins <strong>and</strong> monkeys<br />
because they have a lot of grey matter.<br />
– Indeed, the more grey matter they have, the more they suffer.<br />
• Bulgaria: Animals feel pain but nowadays,<br />
– But scientists use anaesthetics <strong>and</strong> perhaps <strong>animals</strong> don’t suffer.<br />
• France: sick animal suffers<br />
– we produce tested animal just in order to introduce in it a disease<br />
– Shorter life ex: dolly<br />
– new gene reaction, h<strong>and</strong>icap
Should we patent a living creature?<br />
• Bulgaria: Yes,<br />
– Patents are a way to increase incentive for creating transgenic<br />
or <strong>cloned</strong> <strong>animals</strong>.<br />
– The legislation behind transgenic <strong>animals</strong> helps to keep this new<br />
technology from becoming an unethical source of scientific<br />
study.<br />
• Pol<strong>and</strong> =Bulgarian point of view.<br />
– But side the patents on transgenic <strong>animals</strong> may be a form of<br />
control to spread them.<br />
• France: A living creature belongs to nature but not to a<br />
person (scientist) even if he has genetically modified it.<br />
– Possible hazard for nature<br />
– man should not patent a living creature
Is there any risk for the human being ?<br />
• Pol<strong>and</strong>: Now we can’t answer to this question but we<br />
think that the future will answer…<br />
• Bulgaria: Perhaps no risk but …<br />
– more investigations must be done. May be there are some side<br />
effects that can appear after long latent period.<br />
• France: Yes,<br />
– Any scientist doesn’t prove any safety in consuming meat or<br />
milk from a transgenic animal<br />
• man must be more cautious about them (transgenic product).
Will these methods be used on the<br />
human being?<br />
• Pol<strong>and</strong>: these methods won’t be used<br />
– human cloning causes many ethical <strong>problems</strong> for many people.<br />
– According to our religion, people are final act of God. It is not ethical to use people<br />
like an experiment because everyone has an equal low to natural live <strong>and</strong><br />
happiness.<br />
• Bulgaria: Some methods are already used- especially in “in vitro fertilisation”.<br />
– Maybe in the future science will develop so much that it will be able to create<br />
human clone <strong>and</strong> maybe it will be able to cure some diseases by gene therapy.<br />
– In spite of rules <strong>and</strong> laws, scientists will be curious <strong>and</strong> will try to make human<br />
clones.<br />
• France: Of course,<br />
– scientists are used to making their thinking on application whatever the<br />
consequences will be.<br />
– The real question is how to use it on human being so as to be a benefit for<br />
humankind?
Discussion <strong>and</strong><br />
recomm<strong>and</strong>ations<br />
• The use of animal must be responsible,<br />
– If we are master of this world, we have to protect <strong>and</strong> to care<br />
the <strong>animals</strong> <strong>and</strong> all other living creatures.<br />
• Genetic engineering should be justified only if it permits<br />
to save human life.<br />
• Holly books is a reference for everybody who has a<br />
religion.<br />
– It had been written a long time before our generation.<br />
– That’s why it is so difficult :<br />
- To have universal goals for using nature resources,<br />
- To know how to have a better treatment of the environment.
Discussion-Recomm<strong>and</strong>ations (end)<br />
• Breeding of transgenic <strong>and</strong> <strong>cloned</strong> <strong>animals</strong> must<br />
be confined,<br />
• To decrease our requirement :<br />
– Socrates: a human being must drop some desires in order to<br />
live successfully<br />
– Aim: produce just enough food for mankind.<br />
• A Latency period must be respected<br />
– To ensure the liability of Genetic engineering<br />
– To resist to the precipitation of Biotech investors<br />
– To know the risks<br />
• To define the ethical limits of genetic engineering
Conclusion<br />
• <strong>Ethical</strong> point of view depends more on the individual<br />
perception than on the country.<br />
• We need to know better the risks of genetic engineering:<br />
– Experimenting more <strong>and</strong> more,<br />
– Making suffer more <strong>and</strong> more <strong>animals</strong><br />
= Contradiction<br />
• Now it seems hard to return back<br />
• Until where can be posed the ethical question? Does a<br />
non limited ethic enable a sustainable life of human<br />
being?