Biotechnology for beginners

Biotechnology: A Historical Overview

Biotechnology is the application of scientific tools to change or manipulate the genetic makeup of organisms. This method is mostly used to utilize biological processes in order to generate antibiotics or hormones. Fundamentally, the goal was to improve a given organism’s traits to a desirable state. Biotechnology stretches back to the year 4000 B.C., when Egyptians used yeast microbes to make wine. Additionally, Gregor Mendel investigated the rules of inheritance in interbreeding peas, and the results revealed changed gene expression. Nowadays, biotechnology has progressed from deliberate experimentation and genetic manipulation to important scientific advances. The major achievements in these studies were the isolation of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) in 1940 by Oswald Avery and later the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer discovered that one could intentionally introduce the DNA of one species to another; this process was known as recombinant DNA which led to the first genetically engineered product human insulin using the bacterium Escherichia coli (Renneberg et al. 57) By the end of the twentieth century there was a massive experimentation of the potential commercial uses of biotechnology.

Ethical Concerns and Limitations of Biotechnology

New forms of Biotechnology are morally unacceptable. My lack of support for these process does consider the fact that human beings should aim to help the ecosystem in the best way possible, and scientific interventions based on discovering medicine and solving major ecosystem weaknesses are acceptable. However, my limit is crossed when scientists try to isolate the genetic material of an organism using special enzymes and forcing a recombination just for the sake of it. Then it is no longer justified and it involves trying to play God in biological systems they cannot comprehend. There are vast differences between the organization of genetic material in bacteria and that of human beings. This has greatly restricted the advances in technology mainly because of how the coding of the genetic traits and expressions of the genetic material are expressed.

Concerns with Agricultural Biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology is one of the major applications of this process whereby food is genetically altered to enhance value. My argument against this process is based on sustainability of the whole world relying on just a few companies to produce seeds for agriculture. According to Comstock many people worry that genetically engineering might produce unanticipated allergens in previously safe foods; or unexpectedly toxic health supplements (1) .Lack the ability to self-pollinate in order to produce the next generation of seeds capable of germinating. If all plants are genetically engineered farmers would have to purchase seeds after every harvest leading to dependencies on the few seed producing companies. Besides all the nutrients are available in different foods and one should simply consume a variety of foods to achieve the body’s nutritional requirements.

Ethical Concerns with Cloning

Cloning is another aspect of biotechnology that hits my moral and ethical boundary. The potential risks of cloning will have major adverse effects on the ecosystem. However, “all organisms are the subject of their own experience and therefore not objects to be manipulated without some degree of consideration” (Heinberg 57). The bacterium, for example, has the capacity to perceive the environment around it and reacts by dividing its cell wall. Granted the scientists who try to argue for embryo cloning aim at producing disease resistant and high yielding livestock, but shouldn’t they be trying to invent vaccines and drugs rather than creating a genetically modified animal that would definitely not survive in the ecosystem. Cloning human cells is illegal in the United States and it should be because the only purpose scientists do this is to feel superior to the creator which is wrong both morally and ethically. What would be the purpose of developing a genetically modified human, since we cannot repopulate the globe with disease resistant clones? My insights have major concerns about genetic privacy and the effect of these transgenic organisms on the environment and infringement of animal rights.

Conclusion

Modern technology sometimes has a destructive capability creating unsustainable systems with most humans not caring about the adverse impact on the environment. For thousands of years humans have been able to successfully breed and grow nutritional foods feeding their population without depending on giant profit seeking corporations. Genetic determinism holds that the behavioral physical and mental traits of an individual are based on their genotype, and altering this would have dangerous implications on how humans relate to each other.

Works Cited

Comstock, Gary L. Vexing Nature: On the Ethical Case against Agricultural Biotechnology. Springer US, 2000.

Heinberg, Richard. Cloning The Buddha - The Moral Impact Of Biotechnology. 2nd ed., Theosophical publishing house, 2001.

Renneberg, Reinhard. Biotechnology for beginners. Ed. Arnold L. Demain. Boston, 2007.