Gene drives, species, and compassion for individuals in conservation biology

Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Invasive species, Policy, Population suppression, Regulation, Risk and safety
Y. Rohwer, Ethics, Policy and Environment, 2020.

A new movement in conservation biology called “compassionate conservation” questions the traditional hierarchy of moral values in conservation. Compassionate conservationists search for ?win-win? solutions that allow species and populations to be saved without killing or causing excessive suffering to sentient creatures. In this paper I argue that these compassionate conservationists have a moral obligation to support the investigation and development of genetic modification technologies because of their potential to minimize suffering and eliminate killing in conservation. Furthermore, I will end the paper by suggesting that these genetic technologies can help avoid actions that could be damaging to one’s moral character.