BenefitsWorld Hunger: Countries around the world face harsh conditions when trying to grow crops. Of the 42 highly indebted countries, 39 of them are in tropical or desert areas. These locations make agriculture hard and pose many challenges. Through Agricultural Biotechnology, however, scientists are able to genetically modify plants to be resistive and adapt to harsh climates. Scientists can make crops like corn, rice, and wheat grow in colder or dryer climates.Medicine: Imagine never having to take another vaccine in your life. Imagine your booster shot could be as simple as eating a fruit or vegetable. These, innovations, are only some of the possibilities of Agricultural Biotechnology. Through genetic manipulations, scientists have been able to develop a hepatitis vaccine that can be taken via a banana. This discovery can significantly reduce the cost for vaccines, and therefore provide vaccines to third world countries as well.Nutrition: Over one billion people in the world are malnourished. This number is constantly on the rise in third world countries. We can solve the problem of food shorteges with Agricultural Biotechnology, but we can't solve the methods in which the scientific advances one delivered. Some corrupt governments and organizations try to stop food delivery to village, in third world or currently developing countries so they can take control of the people. Imagine eating one apple with the nutritional value of five! The idea is something we can accomplish with Agricultural Biotechnology. By modfiying the fruit's DNA we can make it more nutritious and can solve problems of malnutrition. In Africa, over 3 million children have gone blind due to the deficiency of Vitamin A, which can be found in apples. A simple apple can prevent these children from developing blindness. With the benefits of crops holding increased nutritiional values, tragedies like these can be avoided.
Issues/ControversiesEthics: Many people perceive Agricultural Biotechnology as tinkering with nature. They believe that scientists are messing with the natural law the Creator has made, and that nothing good can come of it. They believe AGricultural will only lead to disaster and is too sacriligious for humans to do so.
Nature: Some organizations are worried that with Agricultural Biotechnology the genetic pool will be altered in the wild. They believe that the mixture of genetically modified plants with natural plants will make the plants evolve further and erase previous species. The idea sounds far fetched but it is possible due to scientists knowledge of DNA and evolution. The elimination of these previous species can alter the ecosystem.
Monopolizing: There are not many companies to market Agricultural Biotechnology. The public fears that this lack of companies can lead to a monopolizing of the industry. The company that is the monopoly can charge what ever it wants for the the genetically modified food and this can lead to corruption in governments. With one company holding the third world countries' food supply, it is possible for that country to control the government and use its resources for greed. |      |
