转基因食品安全不确定性决策的伦理思考

《科学时报》最近报道了两则有关转基因食品的科技新闻再次引起人们对转基因食品安全性的关注.转基因食品对人类健康和生态环境的危害具有科学上的不确定性,导致政府对转基因食品安全发展决策的不确定性.本文认为转基因食品安全发展决策的不确定性是长期存在的,但在转基因食品发展不确定性决策中应该有确定性的伦理准则,那就是“尊重生命健康,避免遗传物质跨物种感染”和“不伤害其他生命,保持生物多样性”.政府要建立起符合伦理道德的管理机制来规避转基因食品发展中的风险,即建立道德责任追踪制度、完善效益与风险评估检测制度、尊重知情选择的合理标识管理制度和健全公平公正的利益分配制度.     

扑朔迷离的转基因安全之争--转基因食品争论述评之一

自问世以来,转基因食品存在风险的观点和报道层出不穷,相关专家或机构一直争论不休。支持者认为转基因食品与非转基因食品的营养性是一样的,甚至优于传统食品,故可以安全食用;反对者则认为转基因食品对人体有过敏、致癌等风险,对机体的生殖发育、代谢等方面也有不可预期的危害,甚至对生态环境有不良影响。相对于传统食品,转基因食品需要更多的科学研究和试验,以及更加严密的监管制度和透明的公开制度。     

转基因食品与人类健康初探

随着转基因食品不断地进入市场,学者和公众对转基因食品是否危害人类健康展开了激烈的争论.介绍转基因食品安全性评价的科学指标,运用伦理学的基本原则对两种观点进行了分析,并提出对转基因食品采取"有罪推定"的战略.     

转基因食品的伦理问题研究综述

1983年,美国利用转基因技术获得第一例转基因作物--转基因烟草.1994年,美国实现第一例转基因植物--延迟成熟转基因番茄的商业化种植.随后,转基因作物在一些国家像美国、阿根廷等逐渐推广,中国也种植少量的转基因作物.目前,上市的转基因食品已达几千种.转基因食品将给我们带来巨大的利益,但也有许多风险和负面影响.由此,对转基因食品伦理问题的研究成为学术界关注的一个热点.     

转基因食品与人类健康初探

随着转基因食品不断地进入市场,学者和公众对转基因食品是否危害人类健康展开了激烈的争论。介绍转基因食品安全性评价的科学指标,运用伦理学的基本原则对两种观点进行了分析,并提出对转基因食品采取“有罪推定”的战略。     

食品消费安全的伦理思考

食品消费安全问题,表现为国家或政府为全体消费者提供一套比较完善的食品安全保障体系,以及这套体系有效性的欠缺与消费者实现自己消费安全这个基本权利之间的一个矛盾.食品消费不安全不仅仅是市场公平交易的经济学问题,还是一个社会制度的公正安排问题.普遍信任构成了实现食品消费安全所必需的社会伦理条件.食品消费不安全的矫正,需要合理有效的社会基本制度安排,政府监管的到位和规范,增强消费者食品安全意识和纠正消费观念.     

转基因技术安全性的生态伦理浅析

以转基因技术为基础的生物技术是本世纪最具影响力的高新技术产业带。转基因技术在农业、食品、医药、环保等方面有广泛应用,它给人类社会的发展带来巨大的经济效益和社会效益的同时,也存在着潜在危险,即有可能影响生态环境,危害人类健康。本文试图从生态伦理的角度来思考转基因技术的安全性问题。     

基于不公平感的谣言对转基因风险评价的影响

谣言是常见的社会现象,但其传播过程的"心理黑箱"还是缺乏探索的问题。在情绪评价理论的基础上,采用对照实验,通过转基因食品情景模拟来考察不公平谣言及辟谣行为对风险认知评价及情绪的影响。结果表明:(1)转基因风险评价产生的情绪可分为后果型和伦理型;(2)不公平感会导致更强烈的伦理型及后果型情绪,并使得被试倾向于高估转基因风险;(3)辟谣对转基因风险评价能起到一定干预作用,但不能完全抵消谣言对情绪的影响。     

转基因大米人体试验的伦理审视

转基因水稻能够提高产量、改善品质、满足不断增长的人口对粮食的需求、增加农民收入,代表了杂交水稻育种的方向.从转基因水稻的研究到转基因大米摆上我们的餐桌,中间必然要经过转基因大米人体试验的环节.目前,转基因大米的人体试验之所以引发全世界舆论的轩然大波在于两点:一是以现在的技术生产出来的转基因水稻,还具有安全的不确定性;二是转基因大米安全的不确定性引发的人体试验的伦理争议.转基因大米人体试验要得到伦理上的辩护,首先,要用新的转基因策略,如创制智能不育系等,使得转基因大米的安全性大大提高之后,再进行转基因大米的人体试验;第二,必需遵循转基因大米人体试验的伦理原则:个人知情同意原则、不伤害原则、公平分配利益与承担风险原则;最后,人体试验要严格依照相关管理程序提交申请,由特设的伦理审查委员会审议批准后才能进行.     

理性思考转基因植物生产药物

转基因植物生产药物是植物栽培、基因工程与分子医学三者相结合而发展起来的.目前还没有足够科学证据表明转基因植物具有长远的安全性.利用转基因植物生产药物技术是"双刃剑",应辩证分析安全性,要全面了解其试验和应用范围的可控性、安全评价方法的科学性、应急处理措施的可操作性、安全管理的严格性.     

A case for a duty to feed the hungry: GM plants and the third world

This article is concerned with a discussion of the plausibility of the claim that GM technology has the potential to provide the hungry with sufficient food for subsistence. Following a brief outline of the potential applications of GM in this context, a history of the green revolution and its impact will be discussed in relation to the current developing world agriculture situation. Following a contemporary analysis of malnutrition, the claim that GM technology has the potential to provide the hungry with sufficient nourishment will be discussed within the domain of moral philosophy to determine whether there exists a moral obligation to pursue this end if and only if the technology proves to be relatively safe and effective. By using Peter Singer's duty of moral rescue, I argue that we have a moral duty to assist the third world through the distribution of such GM plants. I conclude the paper by demonstrating that my argument can be supported by applying a version of the Precautionary Principle on the grounds that doing nothing might be worse for the current situation.     

The Contested Publics of the UK GM Controversy: A Tale of Entanglement and Purification

Ten years ago the UK held one of the largest, most complex and politically charged exercises in the turn towards public engagement in the governance of the biosciences. Called ‘GM Nation’ this experiment arose as an attempt to mediate public concerns in the run-up to a government decision on whether to allow some varieties of GM crops to be commercially cultivated in the UK. Formed to mediate a controversy, ‘GM Nation’ itself became a focus of controversy, with claims that many of its public participants were already engaged in the GM issue and were thus not representative of a general public. In this way, the category of the public became a contested category, with at least two different versions of the public featuring in the GM controversy. Particularly important was the contrast between engaged or issue publics that emerged entangled in and increasingly familiar with the objects and issues of the controversy, and a general public, identified through its distance and disengagement from the GM issue. These different forms of public were articulated through different modes of engagement ranging from engaged publics found in hybrid forums such as local village meetings, to versions of the general public brought into being in some of the closed parts of ‘GM Nation’. Throughout all this, a wider public institutional architecture, improvised to govern the controversy, became the site of complex boundary work that attempted to separate science from politics, a feature that conditioned how these different versions of public would be articulated and received.     

女性食物选择的演化视角：基于性选择过程的理论探讨

性选择在人类心理、行为等表型的演化过程中扮演了重要角色, 但其对女性食物选择的影响却相对较少被关注。性选择塑造了男女不同的择偶策略, 男性择偶时对女性外在吸引力的关注使得女性更加重视身材等外在吸引力信息。而女性身材与饮食的密切联系, 进一步提示性选择过程应该会对女性的食物选择产生影响。以之为基础, 梳理求偶动机激活可能引发的女性食物选择的变化, 以及女性生理期不同阶段在食物选择上的变异, 有助于了解性选择过程对女性食物选择的影响。未来研究中, 进一步从行为、激素、脑等不同层面剖析对应影响及涉及机制, 对该领域的长远发展有重要意义。     

Human food preferences and cultural identity: The case of Aragón (Spain)

This research aims to analyze the relationship between sociocultural values and human food preferences. The latter, as shown in this paper, are greatly influenced by cultural identity. This work stems from a theoretical context that originated in Europe and the United States towards the mid‐twentieth century, within the field of the anthropology of food. A qualitative and quantitative analysis has been performed in the Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón (Spain). Research methods include focus groups, in‐depth interviews, participant observation, and a questionnaire that was handed out to a representative sample of the Aragonese population (816 people over 21 years of age; confidence level of 95.5% and error margin of ±3.5). Regarding the research outcome, a highly significant qualitative and quantitative connection has been found between food selection and cultural identity. In other words, people prefer to consume foods that are symbolically associated with their own culture, in order to reinforce their sense of belonging. Although this study has been carried out in Aragón, it is our belief that the results can be generalized to other areas. The originality and interest of our findings are notable considering that, to date, few works have analyzed the sociocultural factors motivating food behavior. Moreover, these results could be used by public and private organizations to meet objectives such as health promotion and product marketing.     

GM Crops in Hungary: Comparing Mass Media Framing and Public Understanding of Technoscientific Controversy

In Hungary, there has been limited public debate about genetically modified crops, unlike in some Western countries. The mass media has published little to inform Hungarian lay people about genetically modified (GM) crops or their relevance to the country. Nevertheless, the media did convey some general impressions, mainly from within an Anti-GM Threat framing of the issue. This mass media frame was evident in lay focus group discussions—e.g. GM crops branded a food risk, general focus on risks, health risk identified as important risk, foreign companies regarded as source of the problem and as being ‘just out for profit’, image of corn, rhetoric of deterioration, etc. This overlap supports theories which suggest that media framings provide a resource which can be appropriated for public understanding. At the same time, however, dominant media framings were also mentioned only vaguely or in a somewhat modified way. Other issues raised in the media framing, not resonating with wider cultural themes, were absent from focus group discussions (e.g. environmental concerns). And participants were also able to rely on other conversational resources (analogous reasoning and cultural themes) to formulate some additional issues beyond the media reportage.     

FOOD ETHICS: A CRITIQUE OF SOME ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD

This article critiques some Islamic approaches to food ethics and the debate over genetically modified (GM) food. Food ethics is a branch of bioethics, and is an emerging field in Islamic bioethics. The article critically analyzes the arguments of the authors who wrote in favor of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from an Islamic perspective, and those who wrote against GMOs, also from an Islamic perspective. It reveals the theological and the epistemological foundations of the two main approaches. Moreover, it provides an attempt to critique what is perceived as an exclusivist and legalistic trend adopted by some authors. It argues that an alternative approach that acknowledges the priority of reason in ethics and is at the same time rooted in Islamic tradition would be more inclusive and constructive.     

Types of Food Aversions: Animal,Vegetable, and Texture

Despite a growing body of research investigating the origins and effects of food aversions, few research instruments have been developed to measure aversions to specific types or categories of food. Undergraduates (N = 209) responded to a series of food aversion questionnaires. The results suggest that people tend to be averse to 2 types of foods (vegetables and meats or fats) and to the texture and taste of certain foods (e.g., oysters). Aversions were slightly more prevalent among women than among men and were correlated with lower educational levels. The authors provide a means of advancing future research on this problem by reliably identifying 3 categories of food aversions. Future researchers should evaluate additional food categories and expand the focus on food aversions beyond the current concern with learned avoidance of specific food items.     

Debates on Genetically Modified Crops in the Context of Sustainable Development

The paper discusses conflicts in perceptions of GM crops illustrating the complexities of GM debates and applications of the concept of sustainable development. The concept consists of three discourses that both opponents and supporters of GM crops refer to in their analyses: environmentalism, social and economic development and the two sub-issues of sustainable development—biodiversity loss and food security. This creates a unique situation when both proponents and opponents of GM food use the same framework of sustainable development to support their arguments and do not reach a common ground. This will be illustrated by a review of the arguments brought by these two groups.     

Local Food Environments: They’re All Stocked Differently

The obesity epidemic has widened the aims of prevention research to include the influence of local food environments on health outcomes. This mixed methods study extends existing research focused on local food environments by examining whether community members’ find food accessible. Data from food store audits and one-on-one interviews were analyzed. Results reveal that most of the food stores surrounding the three research sites were convenience stores and non-chain grocery stores; interviewees did not perceive these stores to be “real” food stores. Tobacco and alcohol products were more prevalent in the food stores than all varieties of milk, fresh fruits, or fresh vegetables. Food access varied by site in a manner that was designed to appeal to customers’ race, class, gender, or environment. Findings reveal that local food environments are reflections of social hierarchies. Unraveling the politics of space ought to be a part of broader efforts to promote the public’s health.