Ethical and Social Implications of New Plant Breeding Technologies: Integrating Stakeholder Perspectives on Human and Planetary Health (BREETH)

New plant breeding technologies (NBTs) such as genome editing enable more efficient and flexible innovations in agriculture and food production than conventional breeding methods. Therefore, they can potentially contribute to global food security and improve public health and environmental sustainability. However, NBTs are currently covered by the Swiss moratorium on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The regulation of NBTs is difficult due to the low societal and political acceptance of GMOs and their ethical and social impacts. These issues need to be addressed to overcome polarization and enable a conscious public and political debate. This project aims to provide an ethical assessment of the social and societal impacts of NBTs. We will combine ethical analysis with empirical analysis of public debates and stakeholder perceptions, with a focus on the social acceptance of NBTs in Switzerland. The results of the research project will help to analyze the nature and possible reasons for the low societal acceptance of GMOs in Switzerland and its implications for the regulation of NBTs in Switzerland and the European Union.