preface: Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are more disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. In the blog entry answer the following question— under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?
"If we are what we eat, with all the genetically modified and imitation foods we now eat, what the heck are we?"
Once Upon a Time…
Once upon a time God created animals and plants, which evolved through natural selection.
Then one day humans came along and thought that natural selection was not good enough and created genetic modification.As the science of agriculture advances, the world will better fed than clothed and housed. Today agriculture is going far beyond nature to produce new miracles or an even better more abundance life. On the far today wherever you look you see the handy work of scientist improved crops, more productive soil, more useful and efficient machinery. They are the result of the miracles of agriculture. Genetically modified organisms are a reality in the Canadian food industry. According to Statistics Canada only 38 percent of 197 food items studied as commonly found in our shopping carts is GM free. In 2001 more than 80 percent of Canola, 40 percent of corn and 25 percent of soybean crops in Ontario are genetically modified. Though we are surrounded by genetically modified foods and most likely consume GM foods daily, how much do we really know about genetic modifications?
What God Intended
Natural selection is the process by which those heritable traits that make it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce to become more common in a population over successive generations. It is a key mechanism of evolution. The natural genetic variation within a population of organisms means that some individuals will survive and reproduce more successfully than others in their current environment. If a particular variation makes the offspring which manifest it better suited to survival or to successful reproduction, that offspring and its descendants will be more likely to survive than those offspring without the variation. The original traits, as well as any maladaptive variations, will disappear as the offspring who carry them are replaced by their more successful relatives.
Therefore, certain traits are preserved due to the selective advantage they provide to their holders, allowing the individual to leave more offspring than individuals without the trait(s). Eventually, through many iterations of this process, organisms will develop more and more complex adaptive traits.
FRANKIN FOOD Selective
breeding and genetically modified foods?
Artificial selection or selective breeding signify intentional breeding for particular traits or amalgamation of traits. This is done through the extraction of genetic material out of a reproductive context, a context which have been evolving with a piece of DNA for millions of years, taking it out manipulating it as a chemical and putting it back into another reproductive context, where is it is going to operate in a different way. With genetic engineering or genetic modification scientist take genes from one species and force them in the DNA of different species in order to transfer a trait. For example they have human genes in rice to create pharmaceutical medicines and genes from bacteria that produce its own pesticides, that has been transferred to corn so that every cell in every bite produces a toxic pesticides to kill insects.
The beauty and peril of genetic engineering is that you can move genes from as far different species from a flounder into a tomato to ensure you have a plant that’s tolerant to very low temperatures because of the antifreeze gene that is present in the flounder. This type of engineering is made by the universality of the genetic code that plants or animals species can read each other’s genetic messages
Natural selection is the process by which those heritable traits that make it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce to become more common in a population over successive generations. It is a key mechanism of evolution. The natural genetic variation within a population of organisms means that some individuals will survive and reproduce more successfully than others in their current environment. If a particular variation makes the offspring which manifest it better suited to survival or to successful reproduction, that offspring and its descendants will be more likely to survive than those offspring without the variation. The original traits, as well as any maladaptive variations, will disappear as the offspring who carry them are replaced by their more successful relatives.
Therefore, certain traits are preserved due to the selective advantage they provide to their holders, allowing the individual to leave more offspring than individuals without the trait(s). Eventually, through many iterations of this process, organisms will develop more and more complex adaptive traits.
FRANKIN FOOD Selective
breeding and genetically modified foods?Artificial selection or selective breeding signify intentional breeding for particular traits or amalgamation of traits. This is done through the extraction of genetic material out of a reproductive context, a context which have been evolving with a piece of DNA for millions of years, taking it out manipulating it as a chemical and putting it back into another reproductive context, where is it is going to operate in a different way. With genetic engineering or genetic modification scientist take genes from one species and force them in the DNA of different species in order to transfer a trait. For example they have human genes in rice to create pharmaceutical medicines and genes from bacteria that produce its own pesticides, that has been transferred to corn so that every cell in every bite produces a toxic pesticides to kill insects.
The beauty and peril of genetic engineering is that you can move genes from as far different species from a flounder into a tomato to ensure you have a plant that’s tolerant to very low temperatures because of the antifreeze gene that is present in the flounder. This type of engineering is made by the universality of the genetic code that plants or animals species can read each other’s genetic messages
So Why do it?
As technology proceeds to grow, man has learned to harness the power of the atom, and not long after, soon realized the power of genes. Genetic engineering posses many advantages.
Diseases could be prevented by detecting people, plants, or animals that are genetically prone to certain hereditary diseases, and preparing for the inevitable. Also, infectious diseases can be treated by implanting genes that code for antiviral proteins specific to each antigen.
Animals and plants can be modified to show desirable characteristics. Genes could also be manipulated in trees for example, to absorb more CO2 which can possibly reduce the threat of global warming. Genetic Engineering could increase genetic diversity, and produce more variant alleles which could also be crossed over and implanted into other species. It is possible to alter the genetics of wheat plants to grow insulin for example. Genetic modification also promises foods with more prominent characteristics. Genetically modified plants are altered to become drought resistant, higher crop yield, higher growth rate and disease defiant. We can begin to grow foods in different conditions. For instance, strawberries can be genetically engineered to grow in frosts. Other foods that grow in cold climates could be engineered to grow in hot climates. Some foods can be genetically modifies to contain higher amounts of important vitamins and minerals. Vitamin A deficiencies cause blindness. In Africa, 500,000 go blind each year. And to solve this dilemma scientist took the vitamin A rich gene from a carrot and implanted it in the gene of rice.
As technology proceeds to grow, man has learned to harness the power of the atom, and not long after, soon realized the power of genes. Genetic engineering posses many advantages.
Diseases could be prevented by detecting people, plants, or animals that are genetically prone to certain hereditary diseases, and preparing for the inevitable. Also, infectious diseases can be treated by implanting genes that code for antiviral proteins specific to each antigen.
Animals and plants can be modified to show desirable characteristics. Genes could also be manipulated in trees for example, to absorb more CO2 which can possibly reduce the threat of global warming. Genetic Engineering could increase genetic diversity, and produce more variant alleles which could also be crossed over and implanted into other species. It is possible to alter the genetics of wheat plants to grow insulin for example. Genetic modification also promises foods with more prominent characteristics. Genetically modified plants are altered to become drought resistant, higher crop yield, higher growth rate and disease defiant. We can begin to grow foods in different conditions. For instance, strawberries can be genetically engineered to grow in frosts. Other foods that grow in cold climates could be engineered to grow in hot climates. Some foods can be genetically modifies to contain higher amounts of important vitamins and minerals. Vitamin A deficiencies cause blindness. In Africa, 500,000 go blind each year. And to solve this dilemma scientist took the vitamin A rich gene from a carrot and implanted it in the gene of rice.
The Other side of the Story
With the amount genetically modified foods growing, so has the controversial debate on the topic. Scientists give the fal
se notion that genetic engineering is just an extension on natural breeding. The process of genetic engineering causes a collateral damage in the natural DNA. Though the study of genetic modification has evolved greatly, it is still a rather new idea. Genetically modified foods are believed to be a danger to human health, since there is lack of GM food testing. Genetically modified foods that posses the quality of producing their own pesticides has created a problem a new problem called “super pests”. Like the corn I mentioned previously, each kernel of the corn posses a pest fighting toxin. But as time passes, the pests grow immune to the toxin, which leads to even more pesticides being spilled over to our crops. In addition to “super pests” with the introduction of genetic engineering, there is also “super weeds”. These super weeds are created when plants that are engineered to survive harsh environments cross pollinates with weeds, causing them to be impossible to eliminate. There is also an environmental aspect of GM foods yet to be discovered. Though there is no evident damage done caused by genetic engineering, there is a possibility it would become an extremely dangerous hazard.
My conclusion
The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this need in a number of ways. Though there are many disadvantages possibly linked to genetically engineered food, I believe the advantages overrule the cons. Genetic engineering granted me to have strawberries even in the mist of winter, and enjoy watermelons without seeds. And thanks to the magic of genetic engineering I can have foods that are rich with nutrients which are enhanced in both taste and quality. Until a definite side affect is discovered, I will have no objections towards genetic modification and selective breeding. I mean is it erroneous to yearn for the finest?
With the amount genetically modified foods growing, so has the controversial debate on the topic. Scientists give the fal
se notion that genetic engineering is just an extension on natural breeding. The process of genetic engineering causes a collateral damage in the natural DNA. Though the study of genetic modification has evolved greatly, it is still a rather new idea. Genetically modified foods are believed to be a danger to human health, since there is lack of GM food testing. Genetically modified foods that posses the quality of producing their own pesticides has created a problem a new problem called “super pests”. Like the corn I mentioned previously, each kernel of the corn posses a pest fighting toxin. But as time passes, the pests grow immune to the toxin, which leads to even more pesticides being spilled over to our crops. In addition to “super pests” with the introduction of genetic engineering, there is also “super weeds”. These super weeds are created when plants that are engineered to survive harsh environments cross pollinates with weeds, causing them to be impossible to eliminate. There is also an environmental aspect of GM foods yet to be discovered. Though there is no evident damage done caused by genetic engineering, there is a possibility it would become an extremely dangerous hazard.My conclusion
The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this need in a number of ways. Though there are many disadvantages possibly linked to genetically engineered food, I believe the advantages overrule the cons. Genetic engineering granted me to have strawberries even in the mist of winter, and enjoy watermelons without seeds. And thanks to the magic of genetic engineering I can have foods that are rich with nutrients which are enhanced in both taste and quality. Until a definite side affect is discovered, I will have no objections towards genetic modification and selective breeding. I mean is it erroneous to yearn for the finest?
Sources:
http://www.learner.org/courses/essential/life/session5/closer1.htmlhttp://geneticsevolution.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_and_artificial_selectionhttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/cool_stuff/tour_evolution_7.html&%20link=/mythology/cepheus.html&edu=highhttp://www.helium.com/items/1735710-selective-breeding-gmo?page=2 http://www.greenexpander.com/2007/09/21/10-amazing-animals-saved-from-extinction/
http://webecoist.com/2009/09/18/altered-evolution-strange-animal-deformities/http://www.lycos.com/info/artificial-selection.htmlhttp://www.hemmy.net/2007/07/16/belgian-blue-cattle-super-cow-aka-incredible-hulk-cow/http://www.dogshealth.com/pages/hip.html
http://www.learner.org/courses/essential/life/session5/closer1.htmlhttp://geneticsevolution.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_and_artificial_selectionhttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/cool_stuff/tour_evolution_7.html&%20link=/mythology/cepheus.html&edu=highhttp://www.helium.com/items/1735710-selective-breeding-gmo?page=2 http://www.greenexpander.com/2007/09/21/10-amazing-animals-saved-from-extinction/
http://webecoist.com/2009/09/18/altered-evolution-strange-animal-deformities/http://www.lycos.com/info/artificial-selection.htmlhttp://www.hemmy.net/2007/07/16/belgian-blue-cattle-super-cow-aka-incredible-hulk-cow/http://www.dogshealth.com/pages/hip.html
