ABSTRACT
Biotechnology is at the intersection of science and ethics. Technological developments are shaped by an ethical vision, which in turn is shaped by available technology. Biotechnology can produce unanticipated consequences that cause harm or dehumanize people. The ethical implications of proposed developments must be carefully examined. The ethical assessment of new technologies, including biotechnology, requires a different approach to ethics. Ethics includes assessment of the rights and wrongs of specific technologies and applications. No area of biotechnology more clearly brings to focus the need for careful ethical reflection than its potential to impact human nature. Previous technology has provided new tools that impacted human activities and society. Humans were the makers of technology. Some aspects of biotechnology now make humans the objects of technology. Technology raises environmental issues when there are environmental exposures that pose risk to humans, wildlife or to ecosystem integrity. It has been alleged that agricultural biotechnology may pose risks to wildlife in or near farm fields.
