ETHICAL ISSUES

ETHICAL ISSUES

The manipulation of living organisms by the human race cannot go on any further, without regulation. Some ethical standards are required to evaluate the morality of all human activities that might help or harm living organisms.

Going beyond the morality of such issues, the biological significance of such things is also important.Genetic modification of organisms can have unpredictable result when such organisms are introduced into the ecosystem.

Therefore, the Indian Government has set up organisations such as GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee), which will make decisions regarding the validity of GM research and the safety of introducing GM-organisms for public services.

The modification/usage of living organisms for public services (as food and medicine sources, For example) has also created problems with patents granted for the same.

GM crops are already in cultivation in U.S.A. Europe and several other countries. In India, some insect resistant cotton varieties expressing cry genes have reached the farmers, fields. It has been argued that transgenic crops may be harmful to the environment. The two points. Firstly, the transgene may be transferred through pollen from these crops to their wild relatives secondly GM crops may pollute the environment.

BIO-PATENT

A patent is a right granted by a government to an inventor to prevent others from commercial use of his invention A patent is granted for -

1. An invention [including product].

2. An improvement in an earlier invention. 

3. The process of generating products and

4. A concept or design.

There is growing public anger that certain 

 Companies are being granted patents for products and technologies that  make use of the genetic material, plants and other biological resources that have  long been identified, developed and used by farmers and indigenous people of specific region/country.

Rice is an important food grain, the presence of which goes back thousands of years in Asia's agricultural history. There are an estimated 200,000 varieties of tice in lndia alone. The diversity of rice in India is one of the richest in the world, Basmati Rice is distinct for its unique aroma atd flavour and 27 documented varieties of Basmati grown in India. There is reterence to Basmati in ancient texts,folklore and poetry, as it has been grown for centuries. In 1997, an American company got patent rights on Basmati rice through the US Patent and Trademark Office. This allowed abroad This the company to sell a 'new' variety of Basmati in, the US and abroad. The 'New' variety of Basmati had actually been derived from Indian farmers varieties. Indian Basmati was crossed with semi-dwarf varieties and claimed as an invention or a novelty. The patent extends to functional equivalents, implying that other people selling Basmati rice could be restricted by the patent.

Several attempts have also been made to patent uses, products and processes based on Indian traditional herbal e

medicines e.g. Turmeric neem. If we are not vigilant and we do not immediately counter these patent applications, other countries/individuals may encash on our rich legacy and we may not be able to do anything about it.

BIOPIRACY

Bio-piracy is the term used to refer to the use of bio-resources by multinational companies and other organisations without proper authorisation from the countries and people concemed without compensatory payment.

Most of the industrialised nations are rich financially but poor in biodiversity and traditional knowledge. In contrast the developing and the underdeveloped world is rich in biodiversity and traditional knowledge related to bio-resources. Taditional knowledge related to bio-resources can be exploited to develop modern application and can also be used to save time, effort and expenditure during their commercialisation.

There has been growing realisation of the injustice, inadequate compensation and benefit sharing between developed and developing countries. Therefore, some nations are developing laws to prevent such unauthorised exploitation of their bio-resources and traditional knowledge. 

The Indian Parliament has recently cleared the second amendment the Indian Patents Bill, that takes issues  into consideration, including patent terms emergency provision and research and development initiatives.

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