Is Genetic Engineering the Key to a more Sustainable Future?
Written by Laila Mottaweh
Genetic engineering is no longer the
product of imagination or science fiction, but a
real-life technology that has the potential to
improve the quality of our life!
Fact: Did you know that the first genetically
modified
organism
to
be
created
bacteria generated in 1973 and genetically
modified mice in 1974?
But what is genetic engineering exactly? Genetic
engineering refers to a process in which we
manipulate the genetic make up (or DNA) of an
organism. This could mean adding, deleting,
silencing, swapping or combining sequences of
DNA. The slightest changes in the genetic
sequence can produce incredible changes in an
organism, and we would call the resulting
organism: a genetically modified organism
(GMO). This technology can be applicable to
animals, plants and microorganism.
For example, genetic engineering can be used to
produce plants that have a higher nutritional
content and can tolerate herbicides. Or, it could
be used to treat hereditary diseases and prevent
them from passing through to future generations.
It could also allow people with family histories
of diseases, such as cancer, to "fix" their genetic
predisposition to the disease. Genetic
engineering has already helped us overcome a lot
of challenges like cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and
several other diseases.
This technology intersects with so many sectors
of society, such as medicine, agriculture,
industrial, research, conservation and even
entertainment; that we don’t doubt we’ll be able
to accomplish all sorts of things that we now
think are impossible in the near future, such as
increasing the life span of your favorite pet!
However, we need to be careful, as we cannot
predict how genetically engineered species could
create an ecological problem, as it has the ability
to cause an imbalance in the ecology of a region.
Scientists, politicians, thinkers and philosophers
are all working together to conceive of the risks
and limitations of this new technology as to
avoid any potential ecological disaster.
What do you think about genetic
engineering? Is it something you
would endorse?
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