Biotechnology under debate

2008/12/01 Lopez Viña, Rakel - Marketin sailaElhuyar Fundazioa Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Bioteknologia
• Bibliografia
• Elhuyarren berriak

(Photo: R. R. Carton)

Modern biotechnology can mean great advances in agriculture, food, some industrial sectors... But this technology has also generated a series of conflicts, and is a huge social debate, especially on health and the environment.

Escajedo has spent ten years in the Chair of Law and Human Genome in research on this topic, and in this book "I have analyzed how various international, regional and national organizations have regulated biotechnology to make its development healthy and sustainable".

Organizations have addressed biotechnology in various ways and Escajedo acknowledges that conflicts also arise when setting standards: "On the one hand, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and on the other, the United Nations Association (UN). The UN takes into account environmental and poor countries' issues, but the WTO says that it is not a matter of these products and that trade must be allowed to make its own way."

The reader will find in this book, in a brief and concise way, various topics: the current situation of biotechnological advances, the profile of the ethical and social and legal issues generated by genetically modified organisms, the current regulatory frameworks of biotechnology security, the conflict between biotechnology and free trade... "When I have raised each topic, I have explained briefly, as an introduction, where the question was, because much information and details are necessary to see where the problems arise."