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The advancements of biotechnology and genetic engineering haven’t been constrained to the lab. Biotechnology is constantly working in agriculture to, reduce the use of pesticides on our crops as well as develop crops that are able to grow in salty soils or in drought conditions, farmers are now able to make more money as crops are growing in quality and in some cases, are increasing in yield. People at home can now keep their fresh food products longer than ever before as science develops foods with an increased shelf life. Pharmaceutical also have a lot to gain as gene therapy allows us to treat and cure genetic diseases that were once thought to be incurable [4].
Recently, a study had been released in the hopes of manipulating cowpeas (or black eyed peas) to make them more heat and drought resistant. This pea is grown in more than 80 counties and had been chosen due to its high protein content, vegetable, fodder and high nitrogen-fixing produce that can be intercrossed with corn, cotton and other crops in many countries "We know it is highly tolerant to drought, heat and several other biotic and abiotic stresses," Dr. Hongbin Zhang said. "This research will use high-throughput site-associated DNA sequencing to map the genes controlling drought and heat tolerance and to develop SNP markers, enabling efficient manipulation of heat and drought tolerances in cowpea and related species." Her and her teams have already made a mapping population of 110 recombinant inbred lines from crossing cowpeas that are extremely tolerant or susceptible to both drought and high temperature. Zhang went on to add, “The drought and heat tolerant genes, once defined and cloned, will significantly advance understanding of the molecular basis ...
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...6th ed. San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings, 2002. Print.
3. Littlehales, Crispin, and Adrienne Massey. Guide to Biotechnology. Washington, DC: Biotechnology Industry Organization, 2007. Print.
4. "Manipulating Heat, Drought Tolerance in Cowpeas." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, Feb. 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
5. Maron, Dina F. "Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Treating Heart Attack Victims. "Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
6. Thackray, Arnold. Private Science: Biotechnology and the Rise of the Molecular Sciences. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1998. Print.
7. "The Pros and Cons of Biotechnology." Middle School Food and Agricultural Literacy Curriculum. Pork Checkoff, n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.
8. "Weighing the GMO Arguments: Against." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. N.p., 2003. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
Modern biotechnology was born at the hands of American scientists Herb Boyer and Stain Cohen, when they developed “recombinant deoxyribonucleotide, (rDNA), [1] for medicinal purposes. Subsequently, biotechnologists started genetically engineering agricultural plants using this technology. A single gene responsible for a certain trait, from one organism (usually a bacterium) is selected altered and then ‘spliced” into the DNA of a plant to create an agricultural crop consisting of that...
Pamela Ronald, a plant geneticist, presented a Ted Talk “The case for engineering our food”, Ronald points out that engineered genetics for our plants is not harmful, yet better for our environment and health. “Now, genetic modification is not new; virtually everything we eat has been genetically modified in some manner”(Ronald).
With the kind of technology that is available to doctors and scientists, treatments and cures will begin to pop up as we continue to advance in technology. Genetic engineering is going to be the topic to look out for. With the incredible discoveries done from modifying genes, it has resulted to millions of lives saved. Vaccines had come a long way from the first discovery, inching towards the one hundred percent success rate. Fredrick made a ground breaking discovery with diabetes and provided a treatment and saved millions. Gene therapy began to prove itself in medicine as it reversed affects from a previously untreatable disease. Genetic engineering still has long ways to go, however it is a promising treatment that will bring us more treatment and cures in the future.
Since the birth of agriculture farmers across the world have been altering the genetic makeup of the crops they grow. Ancient farmers chose only the best looking plants and
With plants of the genus Brassica importance in the form of vegetables and oilseeds (Wang and Freeling 2013), the results of this experiment offer a view into their inheritance patterns which can in the long term be replicated for different outcomes. Augustine et al. discuss the importance of these plants’ traits in terms of food production by stating that studying the mutations of Brassica may lead to improvement of crops by expressing mutations that are desirable phenotypic traits (2014). Brassica are an important part of the global food supply and if any plants can be genetically altered by selective fertilization then those steps should be taken to produce larger, more efficient, or shorter cycling plants. This experiment has supported the inheritance of traits according to Mendel by examining the inheritance of anthocyanin in B. rapa.
Science and technology are rapidly advancing everyday; in some ways for the better, and in some, for worse. One extremely controversial advance is genetic engineering. As this technology has high potential to do great things, I believe the power genetic engineering is growing out of control. Although society wants to see this concept used to fight disease and illness, enhance people 's lives, and make agriculture more sustainable, there needs to be a point where a line is drawn.
The term GM foods or GMO (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques (Whitman, 2000). These plants have been modified in the laboratory to offer desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. Also, genetic engineering techniques have been applied to create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and accurately. For example, this is done by the geneticist isolating the gene responsible for drought tolerance and inserts it into another plant. The new genetically-modified plant will now have gained drought tolerance as well.
The ubiquitous and incalculable benefits of biotechnology as a whole and the specific issues involved in Gattaca successfully mute the alarmist calls for moratoriums and bans on these technological breakthroughs. With utmost caution and consideration these studies will ultimately lead humanity to limitless heights.
Lemaux, P.G. (2006). Introduction to genetic modification. Agricultural Biotechnology in California Series, 8178. Retrieved from http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8178.pdf
For the biotechnology industry, the future is now. Biotech companies are producing new and improved drugs, mapping the genome, and creating artificial organs and body parts. The advent of these new products will increase the quality of life for those who have access to them. Advancements in the biotechnology field have received a lot attention by the press and publications. They have given the impression that it is almost imperative to learn about this fairly new field of study.
The enigma of life and the mystery of living organisms have always fascinated me. The persistent developments in the field of Biotechnology have opened up growth opportunities that are beneficial to the individual as well as the society. The perfect combination of theory and practical knowledge is required to succeed in this field. I want to be an element of innovation in this field, which is creating a better tomorrow for everyone. To do this, I need to prepare myself with mandatory knowledge that only a Masters' program can provide. I envision your university as the right stepping stone to pursue my dreams and achieve my career goals. Having been brought up in a strong and secure family, my parents have inculcated good values and principles in me. My parents’ support has always motivated me to reach my goals. Being from a family where both my parents' are highly educated and my father having done his Doctorate in Botany has always inspired me to pursue my ultimate goal of being a researcher, either in industry or in academia in this field. In the coming years, I visualize myself as a researcher or as a faculty member in one of the leading universities in the United States. I strongly believe that a Masters Degree in Biotechnology from your prestigious University will act as a crucial first step in the process of realizing my career objectives.
Biotechnology is a group of technologies that work together with living cells and their molecules to prolong life (Keener and Hoban et al., 2014). Today biotechnology can be used in a variety of ways such as in an industrial setting where they use it to create enzymes to synthesize chemicals, in an environmental setting where they use it for waste and pollution prevention and lastly it can be used in medical applications such as in pharmaceuticals, genetic engineering, DNA fingerprinting and in lastly it can be used in stem cell therapy (Keener and Hoban et al., 2014). Everyone in today’s society depends and uses biotechnology in one form or another, biotechnology is essential for our health and wellbeing.
From agriculture to what genes a baby will get, genetic engineering plays a bigger part in everyday life than expected. Genetic engineering is thought to be the action of weeding out the bad genes to improve the gene pool. This is not entirely true. Eugenics and genetic engineering are two different things, though they may seem similar. Historically, eugenics was the process of preventing those thought to have “bad genes” from reproducing in order to avoid having more “feeble minded” people come into the world (“Eugenics and”). On the other hand, genetic engineering allows a child to be brought into the world with specific genes to prevent diseases that could be fatal to that baby. It also allows humans to have more access to some vegetables
Genetic engineering enhances plant resistance to drought, salinity, disease, pests and herbicides. The aim is to try and enhance the growth, productivity, nutrient value, and chemical composition of the plants. Chemicals are constantly being developed or improved to enhance the competitiveness and adaptability of crops, and to kill the parasites and weeds which plague the agricultural sector. . This however is not always good as the plant and the pests then become resistant to these new chemicals defeating the purpose of it being used. The new chemicals which are produced to kill these strong pests and weeds may be more harmful to other plants and remove nutrients within the soil in turn reducing the yield of agricultural crops. The benefits of these characteristics are seen in Argentina according to Pelletier (2010) as they use glyphosphate resistant soybean which allowed the comeback of this crop, as the so...
New opportunities and challenges of human health are presented by the application of biotechnology to food. Biotechnology helps improve the quality and nutrition of foods consumed by people,this helps their health. Foods produced through biotechnology has been around for more than 15 years but people are still debating about how safe the food is. Biotechnology still have to plays its role by increasing agricultural productivity,especially in light of climate change. I believe that biotechnology is still going to help better th nutritional value of food. It can also assist farmers to increase their productivity so that they can feed their families and many people across the globe. The whole world should be using the food biotechnology because it has the ability to change the world,it can be to end world hunger .