Arguments for and against GM crops.
Ketan Singh GM crops . What is a GM crop? GM crops are genetically modified crops that have been genetically enhanced using modern biotechnology to carry one or more beneficial new traits. . What is the difference between GM and conventional plant breeding? Conventional plant breeding involves changing the genes of a plant so that a new and better variety is developed. New varieties of plants are bred to suit different climate conditions, improve taste or nutritional value, cope with disease or pests better, or to use water or nutrients more efficiently for example. Breeding using genetic modification (GM) also involves changing the genes of a plant so that a new and better variety is developed. It is done for the same reasons as conventional breeding. The key difference is that instead of randomly mixing genes, which occurs as a result of a sexual cross, a specific gene, which is associated with a desirable trait, is selected and inserted directly into the new plant variety. . What is a Pharma crops? Pharma crops are genetically engineered to produce pharmaceutical drugs. Rather than manufacturing such substances by chemical methods, the idea is to turn farmed plants into mini-factories that can mass produce medicines and other chemicals cheaply and much more efficiently. Trials of this technology have used conventional farm plants, such as maize or soya. . The GM
The Ethics of Genetic Engineering
Genetic Engineering - A good thing or not? Genetic engineering is the artificial modification of the genetic code within a living organism. Genetic engineering allows for physical changes in the subject beyond what would be considered 'naturally' occurring. Genetic engineering occurs usually when genes are taken from one organism and inserted into another. Some of the resulting effects become known, but most stay hidden, manifesting as long term mental effects usually. The known effects are usually short term - physical and noticeable. Ones first insight into genetic engineering may be that it is a solution to all of society's ills and the world's problems. People could fashion themselves a perfect child - a perfect world could exist, theoretically. The truth is far from that concept as we are still today not sure of the many side effects genetic engineering may cause. Genetic engineering has been an incredibly controversial issue since 1997, when Dr Ian Wilmut first revealed his cloned sheep - Dolly. Dolly shared the exact genetic makeup of her mother, and looked exactly as her. However, this success was in some ways regarded as a failure; dolly was the only success of 245 attempts. Another field of genetic engineering is that of genetically modifying crops and plants. Critics say that GM crops are unethical because the crops threaten the environment. Genetically
Why is sexual reproduction so common in nature?
Why is sexual reproduction so common in nature? One of the greatest challenges for evolutionary biology is explaining the widespread occurrence of sexual reproduction, and the associated process of genetic recombination. Sexual reproduction involves one individual combining half its DNA with half of DNA of another individual, so that the offspring is only half genetic copy of each parent. However, in asexual reproduction, the offspring are genetic copies of the parent. Thus, sexual reproduction poses an evolutionary problem because it seems to be half as efficient a method of reproducing as asexual reproduction. Asexual females can potentially produce twice as many daughters as sexual females, so that the ratio of asexual to sexual females should initially double each generation, resulting in the 'two-fold cost of sex'.? In addition to this 50% cost and the dilution of the individual's genome, sexual reproduction also presents other disadvantages in comparison to asexual reproduction. First and foremost there is the cost of recombination - favourable gene combinations that have increased in frequency under the action of natural selection are broken up. Secondly, the process of sexual reproduction requires a significant cellular-mechanical cost as sex requires meiosis, syngamy and karyogamy. A great amount of time is taken up by these three processes alone, and far
Cellular Reproduction
Cellular Reproduction Cellular Reproduction is the process by which all living things produce new organisms similar or identical to themselves. This is essential in that if a species were not able to reproduce, that species would quickly become extinct. Always, reproduction consists of a basic pattern: the conversion by a parent organism of raw materials into offspring or cells that will later develop into offspring. (Encarta, 2) In almost all animal organisms, reproduction occurs during or after the period of maximum growth. (Fichter, 16). But in Plants, which continue to grow through out their lifetime, therefore making the process more complex. Plants' reproduction is usually caused by a stimulant, mostly environmental or growth factors. The reproductive process, whether asexual or sexual always involves an exchange in hereditary material from the parent(s) so that the new organism may also be able to reproduce. Reproductive processes can be categorized in many diffrent ways although the most common is to put them into either asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction is the process by which a single organism gives rise to two or more daughter cells. Most single celled organisms reproduce by the asexual process known as fission, which is commonly called mitosis. Fission (or Mitosis) is the division of one cell into two identical daughter cells.
Pressure groups are important in the debate about Genetic modification. How would you define pressure groups?
Pressure groups are important in the debate about Genetic modification. How would you define pressure groups? How do pressure groups seek to promote their interests and what are the main factors which determine their effectiveness ?, How effective have pressure groups been in shaping the GM debate? Pressure groups can be defined as offering the public more democracy and thus enabling them to influence government decisions after an election has been won. Many people see pressure groups as a vital extension of democracy whereas others view them with less enthusiasm. (www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pressure_groups.htm) The definition of a pressure group does not clearly distinguish between the groups that fall under the term; this is because pressure groups vary enormously in size. A pressure group can be a large organisation like the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), which represents over 150,000 businesses, or on the other hand it can also be a single issue locally based organisation like CLARA (Central Area Leamington Resident's Association), which represents less than 300 households campaigning to help preserve and improve the local town of Leamington Spa. (www.historylearningsite.co.uk) There is also no direct distinction between the more extreme pressure groups such as the Animal Liberation Front, whose primary aim is to campaign against illegal activities such
Genetically Modified Food. The Future?
Genetically Modified Food. The Future? War, famine, disease, hate, overpopulation; these are all constant struggles that humanity must face every day. How to address these problems so that the world will be able to continue in a stable, productive way is constantly on the minds of scientist, politicians, peacekeepers and the everyday person. The issue I'm choosing to discuss is starvation. With our population ever increasing, how are we going to provide billions of people the proper nutrition? Do we continue using the farming traditions of the past, or do we look to technological advancements and genetic modification for the answers? With technology ever changing, our knowledge of genetics is growing and all the while farmland shrinking. When farmers are producing less harvest per year and having to use more and more pesticides to keep their crops alive, exploring the possibilities of genetic modification (GM) within food is a wise choice. In fact, I'd say it was the way of the future. GM foods have several benefits and in many ways are better and more efficient than sustainable agriculture crops. Scientists have been studying agricultural biotechnology for decades, looking for the best ways to advance our lives. It involves many complex procedures such as moving key genes from one organism to another, crosspollination and selective breeding of plants. These and
Cloning Human Beings Is Not Ethical.
Cloning Human Beings Is Not Ethical Abstract Cloning is a hot subject in our world today, one full of controversy. This started when Prof. Ian Wilmut cloned the first sheep in 1997, named Dolly. Since then, mice, cats, and cows have been cloned. Now the cloning of humans threatens our world. Clonaid claims to have cloned at least 3 babies so far. None have been proven. A brief history is given about Clonaid and its founder, Rael. Also, the beliefs of some other religions and where they stand on the subject of cloning are covered, showing cloning is unethical. The Cloning Controversy What is cloning? Cloning or asexual reproduction is basically the production of an individual genetically identical to an already existing individual. The actual name of this process is "somatic cell nuclear transfer," which is a fancy name but its concept is simple: Take a mature but unfertilized egg and remove its nucleus; introduce a nucleus obtained from a specialized somatic cell of an adult organism (Cloning, 2003). Once the egg begins to divide, transfer the little embryo to a woman's uterus to initiate a pregnancy. Since most of the heredity material of a cell is contained in its nucleus, the re-nucleated egg and the individual that is born from this process are genetically the same. This process could even be used to clone someone who is dead without his or her consent, a real threat
Analysis of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species
Analysis of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species Charles Darwin in his book, On the Origin of Species, presents us with a theory of natural selection. This theory is his attempt at an explanation on how the world and its species came to be the way that we know them now. Darwin writes on how through a process of millions of years, through the effects of man and the effects of nature, species have had a trial and error experiment ongoing. It is through these trials that the natural world has developed beneficial anomalies that at times seem too great to be the work of chance. Darwin writes on how a species will adapt to its surrounding given enough time. When an animal gains a genetic edge over its competitors, be they of the same species or of another genus altogether, the animal has increased its chance of either procreation or adaptation. When this animal has this beneficial variance, the advantage becomes his and because of this, the trait is then passed on to the animals offspring. The theory of natural selection is not limited to inheritable and beneficial variations of a species. It also relies a great deal on the population growth and death of a species. For a species to continue to exist it must make sure of a few things. It must first produce more offspring than survive. If this is not done then the species is obviously going to die off. It is also important
Is Cloning Useful To Mankind?
Is Cloning Useful To Mankind? The term 'cloning' have entered popular vocabulary of many people. The issues on cloning are getting controversial and growing more complicated the word "clone" comes from the Greek "klwn" which means similar. Strictly speaking, a clone refers to one or more offspring derived from a single ancestor, whose genetic composition is identical to that of the parent No sex is involved in the production of clones and cloning is sometimes called asexual reproduction. Such a feat can be achieved by substituting the nucleus, which contains the genes from one the cells making up that individuals body, for the nucleus of the fertilized egg. Generally, the aim of cloning is to produce an organism exactly the replica of that of the parent cell which the cell is taken. The question of the day is has cloning any use to mankind? In truth there are many advantages of generating genetically identical organisms. Centuries of selective breeding have been applied to produce particular breeds and specific desirable features aimed at ensuring predictable performance. Selective breeding has been used to achieve slowly but surely more or less the same ends that cloning can. However, there are two major differences between cloning and inbreeding. Firstly, inbreeding takes a long time to ensure the requisite genetic identity. Secondly, it can only take advantages of genes
Genetically modified foods and farming
Genetically Modified Foods and Farming. Most of the crops grown in the United Kingdom originated from distant parts of the world. For example, Wheat first came from the Middle East over 3000 years ago and potatoes started in South Africa in the 16th century. Over time foods have been crossed to produce variety, improved and varied flavour and resistance to some diseases. By changing the crop slightly it has allowed farmers to farm in different conditions. More crop yield per hectare has therefore been produce because of fertilisers and herbicides which help gain the correct conditions for the crop allowing it to been grown all over the world. However this has reduced wildlife due to the removal of woodlands and hedgerows to make room for the crop. Over time the awareness and knowledge of the environment has grown and projects to maximise the yield but minimise the environment destruction have been put to test. This is called Integrated Crop Management (ICM). Some of the techniques currently used are: * Rotating the crop yield to avoid disease * Preserving the soil structure and creatures * Using the correct amount of fertilisers and nutrients * Diversity of Flora and Fauna All of the above points need to be ore commonly practised but for this to happen more financial support to keep to the environmental farming systems is needed. Organic farming emphasises
