Advances in gene editing technologies offer new and far-reaching opportunities to address current challenges. In the ethical debate, the question of how to improve animal welfare has been and continues to be a major issue. The use of gene editing may allow the identification of new strategies to address this issue effectively. We should ask whether technology can succeed where morality has failed. The idea of a hypothetical future in which the occurrence of animal suffering has been eradicated through the use of genetic engineering is arguably a utopian scenario. However, it would be unreasonable to assume that this precludes any exploration of the ways in which the new possibilities opened up by genetics may affect the quality of animal life. The contributions in this special issue of Ethics and Politics aim to further the ongoing ethical debate on the potential for genetic modification to affect the quality of life of non-human animals and the ethical considerations involved.
