ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on ethical problems generated by biotechnology; let us try to look at its development from a more general or more abstract point of view. It suggests that man brings such objects and processes into being which have the capacity to fundamentally modify man himself in his social, mental and biological functioning. Regarding the latter innovation, one could say that nature — through one of its components, mankind — can undergo a disturbance in its equilibrium which could last for millions of years. Hippocrates was expressing a generally accepted sentiment when he said in the fifth century B.C. 'ton men bion he phusis edoke, to de kalos Zen he techne': 'biological life has been given to us by nature, but the good life is given to us through technique'. The issues concerning patenting of genetically modified organisms should be treated in a kind of comprehensive methodological and ethical theory.
