Potato crisps from CRISPR-Cas9 modification: aspects of autonomy and fairness

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearch

Within the Swedish MISTRA Biotech research programme the quality of starch in potatoes has been changed by use of different technologies such asCRISPR-Cas9. The idea is to increase the level of amylose, both for health reasons and as a mean to investigate possibilities for replacing fossil based oxygen barriers in food packages, thus reducing the climate impact. The goals thus seem laudable to most, but the experience of introducing GMOs on the market shows that even though there might be agreement on the goals, the strategy of using biotechnology to achieve them can be ethically contested. We describe the intentions behind developing the new plants and analyse some of the ethical issues that the development and marketing of the gene-edited potatoes raise. We argue that the concepts of autonomy and fairness are useful tools to understand many of the conflicting ethical values in the discussions relating to gene-editing. From our perspective these concepts are interrelated and relevant in at least two ways: (1) fairness in terms of both financial power and labelling as a means to ensure equal opportunities to make an autonomous decision as an individual ethical consumer and (2) fairness in term of equal market power between autonomous market actors.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProfessionals in food chains : EurSafe 2018
EditorsSvenja Springer, Herwig Grimm
Number of pages6
PublisherWageningen Academic Publishers
Publication date2018
Pages430-435
Chapter68
ISBN (Print)978-90-8686-321-1
ISBN (Electronic)978-90-8686-869-8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Event Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics: Professionals in food chains - Wien, Austria
Duration: 13 Jun 201816 Jun 2018
Conference number: 14

Conference

Conference Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics
Nummer14
LandAustria
ByWien
Periode13/06/201816/06/2018

ID: 199029587