Measuring kinship and balancing interests across species: the work of two Swiss bioethics committees

During the 80s and '90s, the Swiss Confederation dealt with several popular initiatives to regulate biotechnologies and genetic research. In 1998, the (theological) notion of the dignity of the creature regarding biotechnologies was introduced in the constitution, establishing what could be seen as a strong base to protect all species from the potential risks associated with genetic modifications, reproductive technologies, and innovations like xenotransplantation.
Two Swiss advisory bioethical instances (the Swiss Ethical Committee on Non-human Biotechnologies (ECNH) and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS)) tackled the work of interpreting the constitutional notion for non-human entities to concretize it into applied legislation and regulations. Using minutes and archives, our research shows how members compared species and how the dignity of the creature, instead of being applied horizontally, was reinstalled within a rather conservative perspective by continuing a strong human-centered hierarchy.
Contributing to this panel’s interest in kinship measurements, we analyze, more specifically, the “balance of interests,” an ethical-legal device proposed by these bioethical bodies to value the lives and interests of different species - against each other - in research and commercial projects. We focus on the historical trajectory of the device, tracing its emergence, justification, and functioning in specific reports, and show how it is essential to understand how Swiss legislation considers non-human species. We then ask whether it inherently upholds species hierarchies - or if alternative weightings may be possible.