Biotechnology a Leap Towards Destruction

Biotechnology a Leap towards Destruction

Human beings have often shown an inclination to manipulate nature and much of the world development is due to this. Manipulating has its effects and they are becoming more alarming with questions of costs and morality issues. Biotechnology involves genetic engineering which involves the transferring of genes from one species and inserting in another. Genetic engineering crosses natural boundaries of reproduction by crossing genes between unrelated species that don't cross naturally. This may lead to unexpected interactions and unpredictable effects. The major risks are associated with growing and consumption of genetically modified foods and the effects of new traits that are introduced into a species on the environment.

The potential risks to human health through consumption largely depend on the new traits that are introduced into the food being consumed. Modified crops would bring new allergens into the food system and would affect sensitive individuals would not know foods to avoid, for example transferring allergenic proteins found in milk into vegetables like carrots, this sort of a problem is unique to genetic engineering because it alone can transfer proteins across species into completely unrelated organisms. This would be a major setback in the field of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering also uses genes for antibiotic resistance as “selectable markers” which are used to help select cells that have taken up the foreign genes, although they have no further uses they continue to be expressed in plant tissues and remain fully functional. Eating these foods would reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics consumed when an individual is ill as these genes produce enzymes that degrade antibiotics. As with new technology, the full set of risks associated with genetic engineering have not been identified, the ability to imagine the risks with a new technology are limited by incomplete understanding of physiology, genetics and nutrition.

Introductions of new genes into an organism have many potential risks many of which have not been identified and studied because organisms naturally reproduce and it takes time for the effects to be identified. Some of the risks that have been identified are the production of new toxins, many organisms

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