The Benefits of Genetic Engineering to Poultry Production - Essay Example

The Benefits of Genetic Engineering to Poultry Production David Wagman English 2 Biotechnologies have rapidly advanced over the last forty years, along with has the world population. As more and more mouths have emerged at the planet's table, some farmers and scientists have decided that the limitations of the natural state can be overcome through new and increasingly controversial methods. Animals and plants are becoming genetically engineered, altered at the molecular level to enhance the production of food. These genetic manipulations can lead to larger plants and animals, shorter gestation periods, immunity from certain diseases and better climate adaptability. Yet, these developments are not purely benevolent. As the potential long-term effects of eating the resulting food is unknown, many consumers are afraid of future side effects and prefer foods that are naturally cultivated. Genetically modified plants and animals are, by definition, altered at their most fundamental levels, mutated in ways totally foreign to time-honored methods. One of the most significant debates presently occurring in the realm of genetically altered foods is over whether or not poultry produced via the developments of biotechnology create a healthy food supply. Although the full repercussions of consuming such meat over a lifetime will not be known for many years, I believe the prospects of better yields and stronger resistance to disease outweighs this. Genetically engineered poultry are the way of the future, and this future is to the greatest benefit to farmers, consumers and the poultry themselves. For thousands of years, mankind has domesticated fowl for eggs, meat and the breeding of subsequent generations of stock. Although using completely new methods and concepts, modern science is in fact advancing the practice of farming to achieve desired beneficial traits. Historical evidence suggests that humans have manipulated birds as required through purposeful breeding schemes and animal husbandry. Theoretically, genetic engineering is only a new potential avenue in this traditional art of bettering livestock populations. Combining the traits scientists wish to insert via biotechnology into the domesticated fowl is an ideal situation for farmers. Through this new tool in farming, consumers also benefit with lower prices, better tasting meat, and even meat which will microwave more effectively, thus answering to contemporary cooking instruments. People have always sought to enhance the desirable qualities of domesticated poultry. However, these processes may hot have anyways been humane or caring towards the animals. One such customary and fully legal practice in the United States is to starve hens for weeks at a time in order to manipulate egg production, despite the potential for serious health problems that might lead to premature death. Genetic engineering of the chickens can prevent further unethical acts towards these animals, which are regularly kept in mechanized environments and regularly mutilated, starved, forced to reproduce through artificial insemination, and left unprotected from widespread disease. Through the creation of chickens that are resistant to disease and able to mature quickly and stay in better health, the current ways of increasing the chicken growth rate can mercifully be abandoned. One of the worst negative effects of captivity is a dehabilitating leg weakness caused by tibial dyschondroplasia. In the natural environment, only 1.2 percent of chickens suffer from this condition, where 49 percent of domesticated chicken are plagued with these leg problems.1 The prospect of making chickens grow larger, leaner, and faster is very appealing to farmers, and as a biotech company president said, "I'm not sure that birds have preferences about their body shape." Genetic engineering can propagate a stock that is better suited for domestic conditions, insuring a better quality of life. Disease prevention among chickens is extremely important to both farmers and consumers, especially since some germs within their systems can affect humans. Chickens can carry salmonella, an antigen which has mutated in Great Britain to create a strain very resistant to antibiotic treatment. In addition, there is avian influenza as well as over forty more microbiological pathogens that can also affect the human species. If modern genetics can make domesticated chickens for food consumption more resistant to such diseases, the chickens are subject to less torment and consumers will be less at risk from these diseases. Another potential benefit of genetically engineering poultry is modifying hens to lay eggs which could contain lower cholesterol, or contain other necessary proteins in their eggs for pharmaceutical purposes. In addition to the modification of the existing chicken livestock, the next logical step forward for modern genetics would have the entire chicken genome sequenced and mapped out, allowing scientists to help influence create a superior race of domesticated chicken. This process could also have significant implications for research into human health in areas such as cancer and auto-immune diseases. When considering the potential benefits of the genetic engineering in relation to chicken livestock development, the matter cannot be decided by strictly ethical matters alone. The reasoning behind the ethical condemnation of genetic modification of chickens does not rest on whether or not there are consumer benefits and chicken benefits. Instead, it relies on the concept of violating a species through invasive biotechnology and the resulting moral repugnance. Genetic modification can be seen as a further debasement of animals, denying them even the integrity of their species' genetic code. This reduction of chickens to mere food producing systems was not the result of genetic engineering. However, the ingrained idea of total exploitation does not take into account the fact that science is helping to both make the (albeit short) lives of poultry in captivity better and make the production of eggs and meat more efficient. Genetic engineering has the potential to move beyond the traditional view that domesticated fowl are good only for food. Please keep in mind that there has been a moral continuity for thousands of years, emerging from the time where animals are denied the possession of a soul and are used without apology. Genetic engineering can break this conception that leads to the conventional poor treatment of fowl. In and of itself, biotechnical advances do not necessarily equate it with immorality. Should genetic engineering be permitted only because it is theoretically akin to previous methods of animal husbandry I have already pointed to many implications of genetic engineering that make it much more humane and ethical for it to be permitted instead of current methods of animal husbandry. With genetic engineering, the captive chickens mature to be healthier, stronger and resistant to disease, rather than decrepit disease-ridden creatures prone to further disease and untimely death. There are benefits to the livestock and to people who will be consuming either the healthy, disease-free chicken or potentially ill and malformed chicken. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that humans will be prone to any complications from eating genetically modified foods, and there is no possibility of the humans picking up the genetic modifications by eating biotechnologically altered poultry. The only case in which genetic engineering has been implicated in human death and disability is the Showa Denko case, where thirty seven people died and left one thousand five hundred thirty five permanently disabled2. Since Showa Denko destroyed the evidence before the Food and Drug Administration investigation team could arrive, the scientific reasons for the deaths remain unclear. However, it is unclear if the genetic engineering of the supplement caused the deaths, as other circumstances from the production of the product could easily be to blame. Though there is no evidence to suggest that genetically modified food will affect humans in any way, there is still the possibility for unanticipated dangers. Insertion of transgenes can affect unintended traits of the target organism as well as the intended trait, therefore scientists and farmers should recognize that there is a potential for other traits to be expressed unpredictably. Economically, genetically modified crops and animals will save farmers time and money. Output will increase due to decreased disease and healthier livestock. Genetically modified organisms are the frontier of food production. The benefits put forth by biologically engineering poultry for farmers, consumers and the animals themselves. Genetic engineering is clearly less harmful towards the animals physically, despite the claims that the moral and ethical objections to altering another species genome for the benefit of humanity. With the possibilities of livestock that can better adapt to captivity comes the additional benefit of disease-resistant chickens with healthier builds. Consumers have the potential for eggs that can not only have better cholesterol but possess positive pharmaceutical qualities. Farmers can have larger yields and offer their products at more affordable prices. The benefits outweigh the few disadvantages. Although mostly unsubstantiated health concerns preventing the use of genetically modified poultry as food, I am convinced that the Food and Drug Administration, after carefully studying the available evidence, will make these valid food products available for sale to consumers. Read More