Gene Technology- Pros and Cons
Transcript of Gene Technology- Pros and Cons
Some of Australia's farmers grow Genetically Modified crops. They use genetically modified cotton which has been modified so that it's resistant to pests without the use of chemical, or so that they are tolerant to herbicide .
The Australian floral industry uses Genetic Modification to produce blue-violet coloured carnations. What are some ways in which
Gene Technology is used? Pros and Cons
of Gene Technology Gene Technology falls under the category of biotechnology. It's some times referred to as 'Gene Engineering' or 'Gene Modification'. It is where a the trait of a living thing is either favorable and modified to make it better or undesired and modified to remove it all together. Human Health Project Genetic Technology is being advanced and tested by scientists to find more effective ways of dealing with and maybe one day even curing diseases like cancer, diabetes, hepatitis C and Influenza.
Already, yeast and bacteria have been Genetically Modified to produce a vaccine for hepatitis B and insulin for diabetics.These are two major discoveries that influence many peoples lives today.
By modifying the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, Australian scientists have been able to develop a vaccine for the potentially deadly disease Malaria and are currently testing it. Pros The pros of Genetic Technology are great, revolutionizing the way we live daily. They include:
Medical- as mentioned previously, vaccines for diseases such as Malaria can be developed, insulin made for diabetics and therapies that have more affect for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hepatitis C and influenza.
Food- Soybeans can be Genetically Modified so that they contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that can help to lower cholesterol levels; also Golden rice-2 is modified to contain beta-carotene(the chemical that makes carrots orange) so that it's more vitamin A efficient. In this way, many different foods can be modified to be more nutritious, more flavorsome and have a longer shelf-life.
Rice is a staple food for almost half of the worlds population, especially in Asian countries. However, the absence of vitamin A is a problem. The leaves of the rice produce beta-carotene (vitamin A), but the edible rice does not. Vitamin A deficiencies are the major cause of blindness in poorer, rice-eating countries (500,000 children are affected with blindness due to the deficiency every year) as well as the cause of many weak immunities.
With Gene Modification, the rice can be changed using genes from daffodils, corn and bacteria to produce Golden rice-2. Golden rice-2 contains beta-carotene, unlike all the natural rices, making it a source for vitamin A. This would be majorly beneficial in rice countries. As good as it sounds though environmental and anti-globalization groups are against the commercial growth and production of it, which leave Golden rice-2 still being grown for research but not yet for the intended consumers. A method where Gene Technology
has been used for 'bad' Herbicides Genetically modified crops, when grown and tested are fine when contained in labs and such; but it's a different story once they're grown in the open. Once in the open it can become hard to control them. Genetically Engineered crops have the ability to self-replicate, creating copies of themselves and spreading their traits to neighboring crops.
A huge fear is that organisms will do what organisms do and will adapt to the change. The fear is that insects or weeds will adapt to the resistance of the crop and in turn, form a resistance to the plant's resistance. This would create a 'super-weed' or a 'super-bug' and would become very difficult to stop.