Genectic Engineering Essay, Research Paper

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#What does Genetic Engineering Really do?

Humans have been doing traditional biotechnology for a long time; but modern

biotechnology or genetic engineering is a very recent development. Will fish mate with

tomatoes or soybeans crossbreed with petunias? Will pigs mate with humans or rabbits with

mice? Of course not, but some scientists are combining the genes of the diverse creatures

against the laws of natural selection. This unsacred liaison invent by chemical corporate giants

is called genetic engineering. Farm animals, plants, and other creatures are the victims of this

devolution.

Genes are blue prints composed of thousands of genetic codes and carry information for

the proteins that make up the structure, function and outward traits that constitute the individual

organism. DNA ultimately dictates the distinctive qualities of a species, from microorganism to

insect, plant, animal and human being. The genetic codes in DNA determine physical forms,

skin color, size of fruits, sensory structures of animals, types of trees, specific times for flowers

to blossom, and billions of other features and functions. Genetic engineering is technique to

splice, delete, add, isolate, recombine or transfer genes from one organism to another that may

be totally unrelated. Alteration in genes and chromosomes causes disruption and disturbance in

the biochemical structure of species and can result in species mutation.

Science can alter other creature s very genetic structure to suit our desires and the market

value. Among the many victims of these artificial mutations, farm animals suffer the most.

Their entire lives are locked inside factory warehouses, manipulated by machines as if the sole

purpose of the animal to be born was to be harvested by man. These animals never have a

chance to see the sky or smell the earth and can never experience the pleasure or the freedom of

living beings like people s pets, the wildlife, or humans. Farm animals are subjected to life long

abuse by the most atrocious, appalling manipulation invented by agribusiness. Their misfortune

is caused by being labeled as food animals, but these animals are still sentient beings not so

different than humans are.

Millions of cows imprisoned inside factory farms suddenly wake up to find their udders

engorged to an enormous size. Instead of carrying twelve pounds of milk to feed their calves,

the cows are forced to pump out fifty to sixty pounds of milk just for human consumption, not

knowing they have been injected with a genetically engineered growth hormone. The super pig,

a product of genetic engineering, is a sick animal, fattened artificially by human growth

hormone. This super pig must endure side effects including crippling arthritis and distorted

vision caused by the human growth genes that makes the pig cross-eyed. A new creature called a

GEEP, is part goat and part sheep. In nature, the two species never mate, but our modern

alchemists have already perfected such a new species that never existed before.

In the future, allergy specialists will have to study gene behavior in order to treat new

allergies, because genetic engineering involves adding new proteins to artificially altered food

products. When transgenic crops cross pollinate with wild plants, this can cause migration of

their gene traits, including making them resistant to antibiotics. This can aggravate allergies

since proteins cause most allergies.

Do animals, plants, forests, mountains, and oceans exist only for human benefit?

Can we entrust our food supply and the future of the Earth to those who have no respect

or ethical consideration for the living planet, who are motivated mainly by short term profits?

The potentials of bioengineering can become the most dangerous device to destroy nature ever

invented, worse in the long run than nuclear weapons.

Silver-Works Cited

Altieri, Miguel. The Environmental Risks of Transgenic Crops: An Agroecological Assessment.

Berkeley, California. 1998.

McKibben, Bill. The End Of Nature New York: Science Today. 1999

Wan Ho, Mae. Transgenic Transgression of Species Integrity and Species Boundaries 1997