Biotech Dawn :: Biotechnology Science Essays

Biotech Dawn Ebrahim Oomerjee English 1C Prof. Cross 14 May 2002 Biotech Dawn Long time ago, from the great plains of Africa rose a new form of life. They were apes, walking upright. There was something strange about them. They had something no other living being had ever had before. They possessed unlimited intelligence. In a short period of time the apes would change the world forever. Humans have come along way from the caves. At first mankind the only thing mankind knew about life was giving it and taking it away. But as the years passed and technology became more advanced, mankind could now experiment with the very basics of life itself. Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA) which is the programming code for the body, can now be altered or changed and substituted. This has opened the door to many different possibilities that would have been thought impossible a generation ago. But the path to genetic alteration has not gone unbarred. Many people fearing and distrusting science have tried to resist the march of scientists. From afar, Genetic engineering promises tantalizing results. Humans could now rid the world of certain genetic disorders, Disorders such as Down syndrome and Kliefelter Syndrome would be a thing of the past. Technology was coming to a point where individual DNA codes could be cut away. Restrictive enzymes are so specific that they could be used to cut away any defective code of the DNA with out harming the normal code. There is even the possibility that individual organ could be manufactured in the laboratory. This would be a great success. The fact that many people who die daily waiting for organ transplants would become obsolete. Stem-cell research might in fact make that vision a reality. Scientists have already been able to clone many different types of animals, ranging from cows to squirrels. Science already has accomplished much in the Biological Technology (Biotech) field. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) have made a vast impact in the agricultural industry. Scientists have been able to engineer many different types of crops. If a particular farmer lived in an arid region, he could opt for corn that had been engineered to become drought resistant. Or if another lived in an area where there were many weeds, he could obtain the RoundUp Ready Corn, manufactured by Mosanto. The particular corn can be used with Monsantos herbicide, RoundUp with out harming the corn.