Research ethics case analysis

Red rice: Dr Luftanshan

1. Identify moral arguments associated with using herbicide resistant crops.
2. Identify risk factors and the magnitude of harm or good associated with using a herbicide
resistant crop.
3. Use issues analysis processes to examine ethical issues in similar situations.
The moral issue addressed by this case relate to environmental ethics. One has to ask what are the
potential harms arising from use of herbicide resistant rice. There is potential fear that the combination
of genetic engineering and resistance to herbicides properties exhibited by the rice could have negative
effects to its consumers. This fear is primarily as a result of synthetic chemicals used in the rice agro
ecosystem.
There is increasing concerns over changing genetic properties of a crop so that it develop resistant
properties to weeds or diseases. Those opposed to this change argue for an alternative engineering such
as modifying the crop to outcompete the adversarial circumstances such as weeds and diseases, Tom
Hodges, John Graveel, Bob Joly, Jim Vorst (2013). The chemical synergy used to grow rice in different
mixes and doses of herbicides raises numerous ethical concerns. Excessive use of these chemicals has
worsened with evidence of their saturations apparent in wells in areas such as Indiana and Iowa
1
.
Another ethical concern is the implication of herbicide resistant rice in international scope. In
this case, the international research agency discourage the production of the herbicide resistant
rice in the United State, but encouraged its production in Colombia. In the case of United States,
there are several arguments that can be used to defend the abolishment of the herbicide resistant
rice. One such argument is that the herbicide resistant rice would transfer its properties to the red
rice weed through outcropping. Secondly, United States production of rice might not be as
critical to its peoples wellbeing as it is the case for Colombia. Colombia relies on rice as its
staple food crop. The question why the agency allowed the production of the herbicide resistant
rice still remains unanswered. If the consequences of using the genetically engineered rice are
harmful, more of the Colombians might experience detrimental health concerns than their United
States counterparts.
The decision of the international research agency raises yet another moral concern. There need to
have an body with the autonomy to address and solve ethical concerns in bioengineering agro-
ecosystems.