Ethical Concerns on Monsanto Company: A Case Analysis

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Monsanto: A Case Analysis
Public image is crucial in selling a business. As part of maintaining a good image, companies find it imperative to balance shareholder interest with those of stakeholders. Nevertheless, this is easy to articulate than implement. This paper analyzes the case of Monsanto, a company whose success has been bogged by a myriad of ethical concerns. As a business seeks to survive and thrive, it should adhere to high ethical standards and strive to balance the interests of shareholders and critical shareholder groups.
Question 1
The idea of patenting genes is intuitively problematic. Patenting genes is seen as a major factor that derails diagnostic testing and biomedical research (Chuang, Chester, and Denys 2). These patents follow the argument that the chemical alterations that experts make on genes render them an invention thus eligible for patenting. However, chemical alterations emerge as the weakest defense since they are not just trivial but also irrelevant to what researchers seek: the information content of the gene in question, which is natural. Again, patenting genes only skyrocket the costs of carrying out genetic tests, rendering them inaccessible and, in turn, limiting access to medical care when need arises.
Question 2
The enduring argument for patenting genes is attributable to Locke, and so are some brilliant restrictions relevant in this discourse. First restraint is that employing common biological resources in projects that do not promote the preservation of human life is unacceptable (Locke 1). This restriction can help curb unsafe dumping of toxic effluent. Based on Locke’s prejudice constraint, a second restriction in the gene-patenting controversy is inferable: even after Monsanto’s invests resources to snip genes from the genome and chemically altering it, exclusive patenting should only be granted provided the society has “enough and as good” Roundup – Ready (RR). Finally, the condition for granting patents should be that Monsanto does not let RR-seeds go to waste or remain underutilized. Enforcing these restrictions can actually ease the current tension.
Question 3
Monsanto’s RR-seeds pose health problems. First, dumping toxic waste in unsafe ways predisposes the community to cancer. As Mazza and colleagues demonstrate, a causal effect exists between exposure to toxic waste and increased cancer mortality and congenital malformations (6821). Another health problem is that the toxins can compromise the region’s food chain, resulting in genetic malformations in plants and animals (Mazza et al. 6827). A third problem is that the chemicals, both from the wastes and herbicides, degrade the environment. These health risks violate Locke’s idea, which is based on preserving human life.
Question 4