Ethical Imperatives of CRISPR-Modified Crops in Global Food Systems

Author(s): Ananya Krishnamurthy

Affiliation: Department of Applied Ethics and Plant Biotechnology, International Institute of Food Policy Research, New Delhi, India

Page No: 21-30

Volume, Issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3 Issue 3,Aug-2026

Journal: International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application (IJAEA)

ISSN NO: 3048-6807

Abstract:
The emergence of CRISPR-Cas9 and related gene-editing technologies as commercially viable tools for crop improvement has generated unprecedented tension between the promises of agricultural biotechnology and the ethical imperatives of equitable food governance. Unlike classical genetic modification, CRISPR's site-specificity, relative affordability, and potential for gene-drive deployment across wild and cultivated plant populations introduce a qualitatively distinct set of moral hazards — including irreversible ecological modification, accelerated corporate enclosure of the seed commons, and systematic marginalisation of smallholder subsistence farming communities who collectively steward over 70% of global crop genetic diversity. This study combines applied bioethics, ecological risk modelling, and comparative regulatory analysis to construct a balanced normative framework capable of guiding international biotechnology governance beyond the current regulatory vacuum. Deploying a multi-stakeholder ethical risk matrix calibrated against eight risk dimensions — gene-drive persistence, cross-species gene flow, monopoly concentration, allergenicity unknowns, soil microbiome disruption, farmer intellectual property vulnerability, pollinator impacts, and seed sovereignty erosion — the study identifies gene-drive persistence and seed sovereignty as the highest-magnitude threats requiring immediate policy intervention. Simulation modelling of gene-drive allele propagation across twenty crop generations demonstrates that population-level irreversibility is achievable within ten to fourteen generations under realistic field diffusion assumptions, establishing a narrow pre-deployment window for precautionary governance. Stakeholder cost-benefit analysis reveals a deeply asymmetric distribution of CRISPR benefits and harms: large agrichemical corporations and consumers accrue net positive scores, while smallholder farmers, indigenous seed-keeping communities, and ecosystem stakeholders register significant net negative exposures. A six-phase international regulatory blueprint spanning 2024 to 2035 is proposed, incorporating mandatory ecological impact assessments with fifty-year gene-flow modelling, compulsory open-access licensing for food-security crops, farmer royalty exemptions codified in national seed laws, and binding benefit-sharing mechanisms analogous to the Nagoya Protocol.

Keywords: CRISPR, gene-drive, agricultural ethics, seed sovereignty, smallholder farming, bioethics, regulatory framework, food security, intellectual property, agrobiodiversity

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