Ethics and animal reproductive technologies
Jimmy Voisine A and Marc André Sirard A *A Centre de Recherche en Reproduction, Développement et Santé Intergénérationnelle, Faculté des Sciences de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation, Département des Sciences Animales, Pavillon INAF, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 34(2) 214-233 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD21284
Published online: 3 November 2021
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the IETS
Abstract
This paper offers a framework to help animal scientists engage in critical thinking about their own practices. Its objective is to reinforce their ability to participate in debates and discussions about the ethics surrounding the use of modern animal reproductive technologies (ART). This will be achieved first by exploring some of the most important philosophical conceptualizations of animals in Western philosophy, which are shaping the way humans interact with them. Then, we will analyse whether modern ART constitute ethically significant innovations in comparison with more traditional animal breeding practices, or whether they stand in continuity with the latter. This will be followed by a review some of the most important ethical issues with modern ART, where human, animal welfare, environmental and socio-economic issues will be discussed.
Keywords: animal, ethics, nuclear transfer, philosophy, reproductive technologies, transgenesis, welfare.
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