On the ethics of pharmaceutical protein production in transgenic animals

Humans have been practicing various forms of biotechnology since early domestication,\ud 7,000-10,000 years ago (Macnaghten, 2004). Biotechnology is an umbrella term for many\ud scientific applications to biology, the oldest being selective breeding (Macnaghten, 2004). In the last few decades, however, the field of biotechnology has gravitated towards genetic engineering, gene splicing, and transgenics as fields of scientific pursuit (Frewer, 2013; Wei, 1997; Verhoog, 1996). An emerging technology is the use of transgenic animals to produce pharmaceutical proteins (Wei, 1997; Macnaghten, 2004). This is a complex ethical issue that involves many stakeholders, including the pharmaceutical company, the consumer, and the animals used. This paper will discuss the ethics of pharmaceutical protein production in transgenic animals in relation to perceived welfare, actual welfare, and by evaluation by application of three ethical philosophies: utilitarian, rights-based, and deontological