Plants deserve respect, a group of Swiss experts said Monday, arguing that killing¹ them arbitrarily was morally wrong -- except when it comes to saving humans or maybe picking the petals² off a daisy.
 
Plants deserve respect, a group of Swiss experts said Monday, arguing that killing them arbitrarily was morally wrong -- except when it comes to saving humans or maybe picking the petals off a daisy.

In a report on "the dignity of the creature in the plant world," the federal Ethics³ Committee on non-human Gene⁴ Technology condemned⁵ the decapitation of flowers without reason, among other sins.

Still, commission member Bernard Baertsche suggested at a press conference the body weighed such cruel acts on a case-by-case basis, noting "the simple pleasure of picking the petals off a daisy might suffice as a reason."

Similarly "all action that involves plants in the aim to conserve⁶ the human species is morally justified," the commission, tasked to offer an ethical⁷ take on all areas of biotechnology and genetic⁸ engineering, said in its report.

Nor did the commission object to genetic engineering, since this did not threaten plants' "autonomy -- that is their capacity to reproduce or their capacity of adaptation."

And only a minority of the group's members objected to patenting plants, with the majority ruling the action did not infringe⁹ on "their moral value."

瑞士有关专家于本周一称，植物也应得到尊重，肆意伤害花草是不道德行为——不过为了保护人类而采取的涉及植物的行为除外，或者采几片雏菊花瓣可能也无妨。

瑞典非人类基因技术道德委员会在一份有关“植物尊严”的报告中谴责，毫无理由乱摘花朵也是一种罪恶。

委员会成员伯纳德•巴特施在一个新闻发布会上称，委员会主要根据具体案例来权衡这些行为是否“残忍”，并指出“哪怕是为了得到乐趣也可以作为一个采花的理由”。

此外，“为了保护人类而采取的所有涉及植物的行为在道德上也可以接受。”该机构将为生物技术和基因工程的所有领域严把“道德关”。

该机构也不反对基因工程，因为它未威胁到植物的“繁殖和环境适应能力。”

仅有少数成员反对植物专利，但多数成员认为植物专利并未违背“他们的道德观”。