The way we value technological innovations is personal and depends on the norms and values arising from our indidual and collective history.

The ethical issues are of two kinds. Some concerns bear on our relationship with Nature via biotechnology, perceived as opposed to some religious and philosophical ‘contemplative’ traditions. (« Does GM technology threaten the order of Nature, by crossing the barriers of species? »). Other ethical conflicts are related with the impact of the technology on human affairs, like trade-related issues, North-South relationships and inter-generational solidarity in the context of sustainable development.

How to address these ethical questions ? Moral judgements are hardly hierarchized but ‘ethicists’ prone procedures for solving value conflicts. First of all, judgements must be founded on real facts and this needs to be checked. Rejecting GM food  by claiming that it increases the frequence of allergy in the human population does not resist scientific scrutiny, hence cannot be accepted as a valid argument in an ethical debate. Second, arguments and decisions must be coherent, i.e. they should apply similarly in similar conditions. For instance, impacts on biodiversity should be evaluated not only for  GM technology, but also for any breeding product and agricultural practice, avoiding to stigmatize GMOs.

The ethical evaluation of biotechnological applications is thus a mutidisciplinary exercice on value-laden issues that must be substuntiated by a scientifically-sound description of the realities under debate.

Examples of such ethical studies on GMOs have been provided by the Nuffield Council of Bioethics and by FAO. The EC has also created a European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, but it is more focused on biomedecine than on plant applications.  National governments are advised by consultative ethical committees. You will find the list of national and international committees and their websites here.