Agricultural biotechnology and the future benefits argument

In the face of criticisms about the current generation of agricultural biotechnology products, some proponents of agricultural biotechnology offer a "future benefits argument''(FBA), which is a utilitarian ethical argument that attempts to justify continued R&D. This paper analyzes several logical implications of the FBA. Among these are that acceptance of the FBA implies (1) acceptance of a precautionary approach to risk, (2) the need for a more proportional and equitable distribution of the benefits of agricultural biotechnology, and most important, (3) the need to reorient and restructure biotechnology R&D institutions (and the agricultural biotechnology community's values and attitudes) so that future benefits are indeed achieved through agricultural biotechnology.