Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology

The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Biotechnology in the non-human domain ( EKAH ) (French Commission fédérale d' éthique pour la biotechnology dans le domaine non humain, Italian Commissione federale d' etica per la Biotecnologia nel settore non umano ) is in accordance with Article 23 of the Federal Law on genetic engineering in non-human domain ( GTG ) is a non-parliamentary advisory fee. It advises the Federal Council and the authorities of the Federation and the cantons in legislation and the enforcement of rules and regulations in the field of non-human biotechnology. The Commission was established on 27 April 1998 by the Federal Council. Administratively, it is assigned to the Federal Office for the Environment ( FOEN) in the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications ( UVEK).

Mandate

The Commission followed up and evaluated from an ethical perspective, the developments and applications of biotechnology and increases related scientific and social issues from an ethical perspective position. she advises

  • A the Federal Council on the adoption of rules
  • B. the authorities of the Confederation and the cantons for implementation. In particular, they shall give an opinion on license applications or research projects of fundamental or exemplary significance; they can see for this purpose documents, collect information, as well as invite other experts.

She collaborates with other federal and cantonal committees that deal with issues of biotechnology. It leads the dialogue with the public on ethical issues of biotechnology. They shall report to the Federal Council periodically report on their activities.

Members

The members of the Commission shall be elected by the Federal Council for a term of four years. The Commission is composed of 12 administrative external experts of ethics and other people from other disciplines, which have scientific or practical knowledge of ethics. In the Commission's different ethical approaches need to be represented.

  • Georg Pfleiderer (Chairman), Professor of Systematic Theology / Ethics at the University of Basel
  • Markus Arnold, ethics lecturer and director of studies at the Pedagogical Institute of Religion at the University of Lucerne
  • Bernard Baertschi, maître d' enseignement et de recherche ( MER) in the Department of Philosophy, University of Geneva
  • Monika Betzler, professor of philosophy with a focus on practical philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy of the University of Bern
  • Kurt Bürki, professor and director of the Institute of Laboratory Animal Science at the University of Zurich
  • Eva Gelinksy, Research Associate at ProSpecieRara, an employee at the Initiative for GE- free Seeds and Breeding (IG seed)
  • Martine Jotterand until the end of 2009 Director of the Unité de cytogénétique you cancer and Professor of Genetics, Service de génétique médicale, University Hospital of Lausanne and University of Lausanne (CHUV - UNIL ), Lausanne; since 2010 Visiting Professor of Genetics at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the UNIL; since August 1, 2011 Honorary Professor of the UNIL
  • Cornelia Klauser - Reucker, MD, a general practitioner, Caslano
  • Matthias Mahlmann: Professor of Legal Theory and Sociology of Law and Public International Law at the Law Institute of the University of Zurich
  • Urs Thurnherr, professor of philosophy at the University of Education in Karlsruhe (D)
  • Markus Wild, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Basel.
  • Véronique Zanetti, Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at the University of Bielefeld (D)

The members of the Commission are elected by the Federal Council for the term 2012-2015.

Secretariat

The Commission shall be assisted by a scientific secretariat. The secretariat is technically the Bureau of the Commission and is administratively assigned to the Federal Office for the Environment.

Publications

The most important opinions of the Commission

  • The dignity of the animal, a joint statement from the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-human Gene region and the Federal Commission for animal experiments to substantiate the dignity of the creature in the animal, 2001
  • Patents on animals and plants - A Discussion Paper, 2001
  • Genetic engineering for food - Ethical considerations for the marketing of food and feed, 2003
  • Genetic Engineering and Developing Countries - A contribution to the discussion from an ethical perspective, 2004
  • Research on primates - An ethical assessment report of the Federal Commission on Animal Experiments and the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology in education, 2006
  • The dignity of living beings with plants. The moral consideration of plants for their own sake, 2008
  • Synthetic biology. Ethical Considerations, 2010

Activity reports

The activity reports are written by legislative period.

Book series " Contributions to the Ethics and Biotechnology»

In the series " Contributions to the Ethics and Biotechnology " appear expert reports that were written on behalf of the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology in the area. They provide a basis for addressing the ethical aspects of biotechnology and serve as a working paper of the Commission.

  • Volume 1: Andreas Bachmann, nano ( bio) technology - An ethical Auslegeordnung, 2006
  • Volume 2: Jürg Stöcklin, The Plant - Modern Concepts of Biology, 2007
  • Volume 3: Andreas Brenner, life - A Philosophical Investigation, 2007
  • Volume 4: Benjamin Rath, ethics of risk - concepts, situations, decision theories and aspects, 2008
  • Volume 5: Joachim Boldt, Oliver Müller, Giovanni Maio, Synthetic Biology - An ethical- philosophical analysis, 2009
  • Volume 6: Bernard Baertschi. La vie Artificielle. Le statut moral of êtres vivants artificiels, 2009
  • Volume 7: Arianna Ferrari, Christopher Coenen, Armin Grunwald, Arnold Sauter, Animal Enhancement - New technologies and ethical issues, 2010
  • Volume 8: Peter Kunzmann, Nicholas Knoepffler, primates - Their moral status, 2011

Miscellaneous

In October 2008, the Commission received the Ig Nobel Peace Prize for the report to the dignity of living beings with plants - the moral consideration of plants for their own sake

Federal Council (Switzerland)
298344
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