ABSTRACT
As previous contributors to this volume have argued, developments in genetic engineering may produce unanticipated consequences. In Parts 1 and 2, the emphasis has been on the implications of this for human-beings. Part 3 takes account of the possible consequences for the non-human world, and for the environment. In all cases, though, there is the possibility that some of these developments may prove impossible to retreat from or to control. Evaluation of the risks is a matter for empirical assessment but there are also considerations which are more specifically ethical. Many of these developments have already been the subject of ethical debate and discussion, but this chapter is limited to discussion of the narrower issue of genetic engineering and consequent patenting of results in the case of non-human living beings.
