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Biotechnology

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Dictionary of Global Bioethics

Abstract

Biotechnology has a long history as borne out by microorganisms being used in the production of beer, yogurt, and cheese and by humans domesticating animals and selectively improving crops. However, modern biotechnology is different in that it uses new scientific methods such as genetic engineering, tissue culture, and embryo transfer; it is capable of crossing the genes of one species with another; and it works much faster than traditional biotechnology. Biotechnology as the application of biology for human purposes can be ethically assessed from two perspectives one of which is the consequentialist view where only the consequences are relevant.

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Correspondence to Henk ten Have .

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ten Have, H., Patrão Neves, M. (2021). Biotechnology. In: Dictionary of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54161-3_99

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