Applications of Biotechnology in the Modern World - Essay Example

POSITIONAL ESSAY ON BIOTECHNOLOGY Biotechnology is a widely used term these days. However it has been in practice for quite a while now. We even observe biotechnology in our very own surroundings. For instance the conversion of milk into yogurt is an application of biotechnology so is the fermentation of fruit juices and the use of yeast in baking. These activities have been in practice from ancient times. So no matter how one puts it, biotechnology has been a lucrative field of biology for mankind. Biotechnology is the branch of biology that deals with the application of living organisms and biological processes in aiding and improving human life by contributing in a wide range of fields such as medicine, agriculture and technology. Recent technological advancements in the application of biotechnology have raised certain ethical concerns among people. Genetically engineered food has been a subject of hot debate for the past three decades. Genetically engineered food is an application of biotechnology in agriculture which has enabled us to design and create plants with the desired characteristics through genetic engineering. This idea has been rejected by some and praised by others. Both parties do realize how this technology could revolutionize the world but the idea of this revolution differs. The proponents and opponents of biotechnology and its application envision different futures. The idea of biotechnology is to aid human life but no one can guarantee whether it will be used to aid life or not. Scientists face such criticism everyday but this does not mean that they should stop doing their research. If they did so in the past then we may probably be living in miserable conditions. Technology is only a tool that has helped humanity survive through tough times. The crux of the matter is that the rewards of biotechnology do outweigh the risks associated with it. Biotechnology or Bioengineering has been accused of carrying potential threat but this does not mean that no reward comes with this threat. In fact Biotechnology does promises potential rewards whose proof can still be observed. Risks and threats have always accompanied technology but this in no way implies that one should give up on technology as I further stated that it is our moral obligation to provide our future generations with whatever we can to help them battle the problems of the world. This can in fact be termed as a compensation for using the resources of this planet for our present generation of people. Evidence of the fruits of Biotechnology has been most visible in the fields of agriculture and therapeutics. Biotechnology has the capacity to deal with the food problems of the world hence increasing human welfare. It can produce increased quantity of food and yet avail minimal resources. In therapeutics, Biotechnology gives us the advantage of improving human life and eradicating disease. One consequence of the use of Biotechnology is the positive effect on environment. As mentioned earlier through the use of Biotechnology, lesser resources will be utilized which essentially means lesser pollution. Moreover, Biotechnological processes may even be used to clean up the damage that has already been done to the environment through efficient waste management. Biotechnology gives us the edge to manipulate nature’s resources so that they can be utilized efficiently. This means that we are able to design plants and animals that are best suited to the environment through gene splicing and selective breeding. This way not only the welfare of humans is maximized but that of plants and animals as well. Companies currently working on Biotechnology realize these facts above all and since they know how useful it is to preserve biological diversity, they will not alter the perfect balance. In this essay we shall analyze the arguments that are put forward against the application of biotechnology in agriculture and therapeutics as these two fields have been most affected by this technology. There is a widely known phenomenon that population has been increasing geometrically however resources have only been increasing arithmetically. This means that eventually humans will run out of resources like food. The contra-argument is that existing food supplies can adequately feed the world. This is correct to some extent if one takes out the occurrence of natural disasters such as hurricanes and famines. Moving on into the near future food will become scarce in some parts of the world unless our social system comes up with an effective plan that distributes these resources equitably among the population of this world which is unlikely as seen through a historian’s eyes. Under these circumstances using Biotechnology to increase food production and utilize alternative methods for production will not be a bad solution at all. In fact this will probably be the only solution. Another argument is that this technology will lead to absolute power that the beholder will possess to establish its monopoly. This statement is completely subjective and vague. Such statements actually neglect the efforts being put into this field by scientist who are obliged to serve humanity. Developments in Biotechnology are actually need driven. Following explanations will further elaborate my point. “Five million children in South East Asia develop an eye disease called xerophthalmia every year and 250,000 of them eventually become blind” (Sherlock and Morrey 162). This disease is caused by Vitamin A deficiency which is an essential nutrient. Diseases like diarrhea and measles have also been attributed to Vitamin A deficiency. Now imagine a meal that could prevent these diseases particularly blindness. “A research team led by Ingo Potrykus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Freiburg in Germany have succeeded in producing the precursor to this vitamin, beta-carotene in rice ” (Sherlock and Morrey 162). Furthermore, transgenic rice contains three times more iron than normal rice. 30% of the world’s population suffers from iron deficiency; Anemia being the most widely recognized symptom of iron deficiency. Such factors can be reduced to a minimal extent by using transgenic rice. “Improvements to hybrid rice by introducing the gene of interest directly into maintainer or restorer lines. Early results at transforming rice with the nodulin gene indicate that this staple can be colonized by bacteria that fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. This would improve productivity in the absence of synthetic fertilizers, which are typically unavailable to resource-poor farmers in less developing countries (LDCs). Edible vaccines, delivered in locally grown crops, could do more to eliminate disease than the Red Cross, missionaries, and United Nations (UN) task forces combined, at a fraction of the cost” (Sherlock and Morrey 163). Such technology has particularly benefited the poor farmers as it has improved yields and reduced chemical sprays. This is a direct rebuttal of the argument that the use of this technology has produced lower returns to the farmers. Improved production and herbicide resistant crops have created raging competition in the insecticide and herbicide market. Prices of many insecticides and herbicides have been reduced by even 50% in some cases. Such cases have reduced the overall cost of pesticides in the market which has even benefited those farmers that have not adopted Biotechnology. Another assertion claims that genetically engineered seeds do not actually increase yield. This is in fact misleading. The application of Biotechnology in agriculture basically aims to increase the yield and reduce the cost. Conventional weed control methods have achieved one of these aims which is to increase the yield but has failed to minimize cost. On average they cost more and require greater amounts of chemical pesticides. "In addition herbicide tolerant crops eliminate the need for pre-emergent spraying with far less benign herbicides. On the other hand, Bt (transgenic)-crops enjoy greater protection from hard to control insect pests relative to conventional plants that are applied to chemical insecticides. As a result, when insect pests exceed certain thresholds, Bt (transgenic)-crops are expected to yield better. Such effects will tend to vary from one region to another and from one year to another as insect pest pressures and weed infestations tend to be variable” (McGloughlin). Transgenic food has been considered to carry potential risks by some people. These people ignore the research and studies being conducted in this field which proves otherwise. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has conducted tests and concluded with proof that all the proteins produced through biotechnology which are currently in commercial food products in the market are non-toxic, sensitive to heat, acid and enzymatic digestion and therefore naturally digestible; Moreover, these proteins have no similarities with proteins that are known to cause allergies. These results have been considered adequate however additional tests are performed whenever any need is felt considering the products use, composition, or characteristics. One more argument against Biotechnology states that insertion of new DNA into the cell can considerably alter the metabolism of plants or animals causing them to produce new allergens and toxins. This statement is deceptive. This statement refers to the phenomenon of mutation which is actually a naturally occurring process and is evident even in traditional cross breeding. Scientist put bioengineered plants through a testing procedure to analyze the amounts of nutrition and toxins which have been observed to be quite the same. Extensive scientific evidence and testing have proved that there are no health related issues with bioengineered plants. Just this concern by the scientist gives us the idea of precaution they undertake. .Opponents of this new technology also argue that bioengineered crops will soon fail as pests develop immunity and resistance towards the toxins produced by the transgenic plants as they violate the essential principle of integrated pest management. Pests do develop immunity but in biology there are no permanent solutions. “Once selection pressure is applied on a population, that population is effectively enriched for resistant organisms. That is why it is imperative to develop a multi-pronged approach. Integrating crop rotation and ecology with biotechnology is not only feasible but also the logical way to progress. Indeed biotechnology companies like Ecogen and AgraQuest use biotechnology to identify and enrich natural predators of damaging pests” (McGloughlin). The argument that Biotechnology food has been commercialized without proper testing hence posing a risk for human health is incorrect. Biotechnology crops and foods have been thoroughly tested over the years both in controlled and uncontrolled environments under the authority of the EPA, the FDA and the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service / United States Department of Agriculture (APHIS-USDA). Over the last fifteen years somewhere around four thousand tests have been performed in 18,000 sites throughout the United States. These tests check the performance and suitability of the tested product for release in the environment. Thousands of similar tests have been conducted around the world. .Another misleading fact is about the impact of transgenic crops on non-target insects. Opponents of the subject claim that if this happens then the whole ecological balance will be disturbed causing certain crucial species to even get extinct. The harmful effect of the pollen of transgenic corn hybrids on Monarch butterflies and other Lepidoptera has been known since 1986. The analysis conducted by Environmental protection agency indicated that “when compared with the numerous other relevant factors, the impacts from such pollen were likely to be negligible. Despite popular belief, Losey et al. (1999) demonstrated nothing new other than that force feeding monarch caterpillars is still not as hazardous as using chemical insecticides” (McGloughlin). Furthermore strategies to minimize any accidental impact on non-target pests are being developed at the moment. For instance “the current generation of Bt corn is aimed at reducing crop losses to an imported pest from Europe, the European corn borer. This pest eats corn stalks. Varieties of corn are already under development that could express Bt or other genes of similar effect only in corn stalks, and not in other parts of the crop (e.g., leafs, pollen). Likewise chloroplast transformation described above will eliminate expression in pollen. Such corn varieties would also eliminate entirely any risks to non-target organisms that might come from Bt (transgenic) containing pollen” (McGloughlin). Here this fact may also be useful that biotechnological corn fields have shown a much greater insect biodiversity and population density compared to the corn fields treated with synthetic pesticides. This means that in biotechnological corn fields, insects who would otherwise be threatened by chemical pesticides become beneficiaries. These observations were made by the corn field monitoring teams of the companies that manufacture transgenic corn plants. In other words this technology leaves a positive effect on the environment. The FDA, EPA, APHIS-USDA and an extensive majority of the scientific community have been conducting thorough assessment of safety claims on biotechnology for more than 20 years. So it is safe to assume that the fruits of this field of science are being manufactured for our benefit. The plants and animals manufactured through this technology are custom designed to fit the human need. No matter how one looks at it, this idea sure seems helpful even from the perspective of the environment. The opponents of this idea base their claim on arguments that are in some ways misleading. The world has seen many dark times and suffered but as man progressed it faced much less difficulties in his path as he learned to manipulate nature for his own good. In this day age we have the capacity to look at both sides of the picture and look for rational reasons and solutions. Innovations in biology will be objected and criticized as they have been in history but eventually the world realizes its significance. Wise men foresee the future which differentiates them from the rest. These men will face trouble no matter what but it is the responsibility of these few men to enlighten the world. The need for biotechnology will be severely felt in the future. Our progenies need to be prepared for that as we owe them this privilege. Technology is power, the use of which is subject to the beholders will. Bioethics teaches us the basic rights and responsibilities that enable a person to be worthy of being entitled to that power. People have slowly started to accept this technology now as the outcomes cannot be ignored. The economic benefit arising from this technology cannot just be ignored. Moreover this technology can eradicate the hunger of this world as the resources will not be exploited but regenerated. The possibilities are endless as we have just begun to utilize this technology. Since the rewards of biotechnology outweigh the risks associated with it, it can be used to assist human beings in the foreseeable future as its need can still be felt in some areas of the world. Science has already predicted the problems that human beings will be facing in the future so there is no point in not giving our future generations a chance to battle those problems. Today we stand on top of the world just because our forefathers built the base. Now it is our turn to build the base for our progenies by providing them with tools such as biotechnology. . Works Cited "1. What Is Agricultural Biotechnology?" GreenFacts - Facts on Health and the Environment. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. . "Agricultural Biotechnology." The Pew Charitable Trusts - Non Profit Organization Serving the Public. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. . "Applications of Biotechnology in the Modern World ~ ECOSENSORIUM: A Blog Dedicated to Environment." 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"20 New Biotech Breakthroughs That Will Change Medicine - Popular Mechanics." Automotive Care, Home Improvement, Tools, DIY Tips - Popular Mechanics. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. . Read More