Genetic Engineering can also allow for animals and plants to be 'tailor made' to show desirable characteristics. Genes could be manipulated in trees for example, to absorb more CO2 and reduce the threat of global warming. Genetic Engineering in plants could also help plants become resistant to disease or lack of water, helping them to live longer and increasing yield. Increasing yield would obviously be a tremendous help in poorer countries where people’s lives depend on their yield. Increasing the yield would also help vital rainforests be saved as the if a particular area of land is producing more crops that normal, there is no need to expand the farm into forests. This saving of the rainforest in turn helps reduce global warming.
Genetically altering foods can increase or decrease the levels of beneficial ingredients in foods or decrease the levels of harmful constituents to make them healthier to eat. Plants could also be modified to be ‘herbicide-resistant’ so that farmers could spray an entire field, killing all weeds while not disturbing the crop of interest.
While plant biotechnology has been used for centuries to enhance plants, micro-organisms and animals for food, only recently has it allowed for the transfer of genes from one organism to another. This has created a lot of controversy, mainly because of genetic engineering’s disadvantages. One of the main concerns is that nature is an extremely complex, inter-related chain, consisting of many species linked in the food chain. Some scientists believe that introducing genetically modified genes may have an irreversible effect with consequences yet unknown. One of these effects could be the creation of killer disease or animal that could seriosuly harm many ecosystems.
Genetic engineering also borderlines on many moral issues, particularly involving religion, which questions whether man has the right to manipulate the laws and course of nature. Some people might argue that God has given us the power to genetically engineer nature while others might say that God created all his animals perfectly and so we must not change them.
Modifiying plants using genetic engineering could have an effect on those allergic to certain substances as it is not known which components in food cause allergic reactions. Therefore, production of foods using genes from plants such as wheat, shrimp, nuts may cause an allergic reaction.
Genetic engineering may be one of the greatest breakthroughs in recent history alongside the discovery of the atom and space flight,but because of all the disadvantages and facts mentioned above, governments have produced many laws to control what sort of experiments are done involving genetic engineering. Hpwever, despite all the laws, the long term consequences are unknown and only time will tell.
Internet Sources:
http://www.svsu.edu/
Literature Sources:
‘Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare’ by Dr Mae-Won Ho
‘Clones, Genes, and Immortality: Ethics and the Genetic Revolution’ by John Harris
Improving Nature?: The Science and Ethics of Genetic Engineering (Canto S.) by ,
Ethical Issues in Human Cloning by Michael C. Brannigan