Pros And Cons Of Biotechnology

Pros And Cons Of bioengineeringThe Convention on biological Diversity signed on 5 July 1992 at the United Nations chemical group discussion on Environment and Development (the Rio Earth Summit) defines biotech as any(prenominal) scientific application that uses biological sy cornerstones, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.Understand the slightly disciplines that contribute to BiotechnologyThe main focus of biotech revolves around the use of molecular biota in the application of genetic engineering. Biotechnology encompasses many an(prenominal) disciplines and relies on contributions from argonas very much(prenominal) as chemistry, computer experience, mathematics, biota and engineering in addition to an otherwise(prenominal) empyreans such as economics and philosophy.Historic and topical applications of biotechnology and its productsFermentation to produce foodsFermentation was discovered over 10,000 yea rs past and is widely considered to be the to the highest degree ancient biotechnological discovery. Mankind was producing beer, wine, vinegar and profits victimization yeast. Lactic acid bacteria in milk and moulds were utilise to produce cheese. Modern food production pipe d sustain employs these processes but the cultures get under ones skin been genetically refined and purified so that only(prenominal) the most desir sufficient traits remain. nutrient preservationPreserving food through drying, salting and freezing was practiced take d give before anyone really understood why food spoiled in the beginning(a) place. Louis Pasteurs research on the spoilage of win in 1864 was the first attempt to research food technology in a scientific manner.Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)PCR is a technique in molecular biology use to amplify a few copies of a piece of deoxyribonucleic acid through thermal cycling generating millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence. This techniq ue is utilize for a variety of purposes including DNA sequencing in copy, analysis of transmitted genetic diseases or even in the identification of genetic fingerprints utilize in forensic science.Microbial biodegradationThe exclusion of pollutants and waste from the environment is a concern that has intensified in recent years as valet strives to find sustainable ways to cleanup contaminated environments. Bioremediation harnesses the natural tycoon of microbial xenobiotic metabolism to degrade and transform a huge dictate of compounds including hydrocarbons and metals.List and describe different types of biotechnology and their applications there are a number of jargon terms for sub-fields of biotechnology.Red biotechnology refers to biotechnology used in medical processes. Its applications include the production of antibiotics, vaccines and genomic manipulation to cure diseases. egg white biotechnology refers to biotechnology used in industrial processes. Its applications include apply organisms to produce useful chemicals. The subscribe to is to surpass traditional manu pointuring processes by consume fewer re etymons.Green biotechnology refers to biotechnology used in boorish processes. Its applications include designing plants to grow under specific conditions or in the presence/absence of agricultural chemicals. One of its aims us to produce more(prenominal) environmentally friendly solutions separate from traditional industrial agriculture.Bioinformatics addresses biological problems using information technology. It plays a key role in areas like biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. Bioinformatics also helps in the analysis of functional genomics, structural genomics, and proteomics amongst others. hand over examples of potential advances in BiotechnologyRed biotechnology, e particularly in the field of regenerative care for, is poised to transform healthcare. Advances in genetics, stand-cell research and re-create promises a well -situated age in medical care for the future.Genetics is the principle science behind regenerative medical specialty. Recombinant DNA technology is currently applied in producing vaccines to armed combat hepatitis B and compassionate-protein drugs to portion out diabetes. New protein drugs are in teaching to treat a wider range of diseases. It is speculated that genes merchant ship be used to stimulate the off bound of impertinent t come on, and create antibodies to every suppress or enhance the repellent system. This can be used to treat diseases such as arthritis and variant cancers in the future. Regenerative medicine, unlike chemical based drugs that simply supports failing or damaged variety meat or tissues, cures disease charm having less toxic side effects.Cellular biology plays a major role in regenerative medicine. Human cells are currently creation used in a variety of ways such as growing blood vessels and manufacturing conventionalized skin. Stem cell resea rch offers even more promising treatments. In the future, adult stem cells can be harvested, cultured, and reinserted to heal damaged tissue, bones, nerves, and organs for those suffering brain and spinal injuries. Adult stem cells submit express mail flexibility as they are often difficult to locate and activate, this message they are unviable in the treatment of a number of disease and injuries. immature stem cells are easier to obtain and their plasticity offers greater therapeutic benefit.Regenerative medicine promises many benefits. Better precision in diagnostics designates foregoing and more effective medical interventions. The Human Genome Project and ubiquitous supervise depart allow medicine to develop an appropriate response to the aggression of debilitating and life-threatening diseases. Effective therapies will affect the quality of many patients subsists. Diseased or damaged organs can be repaired or replaced completely. This will prove a great boon for the w orlds ageing commonwealth as it improves the longevity of adult male life.Reflect on how it affects you and the world at that place is intense debate over the development of medical biotechnologies. Studies in genetics, cloning and stem-cell research have sparked unflattering headlines. How do we balance the great go for of treating currently incurable conditions such as Alzheimers with the moral cost that many argue is to high? Will embryonic stem-cell research and therapeutic cloning mean a callous commoditization of gracious life at its most vulnerable stage? Or are attempts to restrict development in regenerative medication condemning countless individuals to needless suffering?Will the benefits of regenerative medicine be distributed evenly, or will only the wealthy be able to afford it? What will be the social effects of a auberge populated by genetically enhanced individuals of varying levels? Does this prospect mean greater or less regulation of regenerative medicine research?Admittedly, these questions each(prenominal) embody a number of issues that are contentious in their own right. And each of them requires detailed analysis and scrutiny. Such inquiries are themselves shaped by a bigger picture of religious, moral, social, and political convictions. To what end are the current and future developments in regenerative medicine directing us? And how do we assess whether this end is desirable?Commoditization of mankind lifeSomatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a technique to produce pitying embryonic stem (ES) cells for research or therapy. The technique creates sympathetic embryos that serve as sources of military man ES cells. In deriving the human ES cells, the cloned human embryo (enucleated human egg transplanted with material cell nucleus) is destroyed at the blastocyst stage. This technique has many significant applications for clinical applications and medical research. Human ES cells produced from unfertilized egg cells transpl anted with a nucleus from a human somatic cell can serve as a renewable source of cells with varied applications. These cells are capable of self-renewal and can transform into any other type of cell in the human body. Human ES cells can also be used for research into in vitro studies of normal human embryogenesis, abnormal development, human gene discovery and teratogen testing.Therapeutic cloning involves the decease of cloned human embryos. The moral controversy arises depending on what status cloned human organizes possess. I feel that there are 3 main responses to this question.Human being and human embryo are essentially differentHuman embryos are essentially different from human beings and have no status. Bonnie Stienbock stipulates that cognitive status is not a matter of species membership but kinda the ability to think, feel and experience. Early embryos cannot feel or experience anything. Thus, nought you do to an embryo, including the act of killing it, can harm its interests because embryos do not have any interests.Human being and human embryos are essentially the samePeter Garret, research director of Life, an anti abortion group in Britain states that therapeutic cloning is simply a form of technological cannibalism. The moral reasoning being that cloning a human embryo to harvest stem cells would be equivalent to creating an individual with the eventual aim of plundering him/her for body parts. To bring it in line with Steinbocks view, species membership is the philia determining factor when deciding whether a human organism has cognitive status.Respect for human lifeThe third response presents that view that while human embryos are not equivalent to human beings, they are still a form of human life and are deserving of respect. Steinbock stipulates that the implication of and importance of embryos is symbolic. The respect that we confer to human embryos is analogous to that we accord to murdered bodies. A dead human body does not have interests by itself but we show respect for dead bodies by burying them in accordance with our social or religious views. We do this because the dead human body represents a soulfulness who has existed. Similarly, we can argue that respect should be accorded to human embryos because of its potential to buy the farm a human being.I do feel that the development of sound bioethics depends on according embryos, fetuses or babies some sort of moral significance and importance. But as these reflections show, advances in biotechnology lead us to explore the philosophical issues regarding how to develop and apply new medical and technological possibilities. There are conflicts regarding the moral standing of azoic human life, issues regarding the meaning of personal identity and the potential to become a person. The challenges of the future will not only be scientific, but will require careful grounding in bioethics.Post humanismThe development of superior diagnostic, therapeutic, preve ntive and enhancement techniques are sure to raise human life expectancy. Eminent researchers in the field of biogerontology such as Aubrey de white-haired(a) speculates that if accelerated aging syndrome such as Progeria can be fought as a disease, natural aging should fall along the same lines. Regenerative medicine can eventually thwart the natural aging process resulting in increased longevity. This is certainly within the realm of possibility, when all dysfunctional organs can continually be refreshed, we would have a substantially longitudinal lifespan.If regenerative medicine is the first step in curing aging and subsequently, a declaration of war on human mortality, indeed an interesting issue is forced upon us. Should humans use technology to overcome or continue the limits of our mortality imposed on us by the evolution of human biology? When indeed these limits are overcome or greatly extended, then mortality is no longer a definitive feature of human life. In the abs ence of this defining feature, are human beings aspiring to become mere artifacts of our own engineering?I personally feel that much of the meaning and virtue in being human stems from our understanding of the finitude of mortal life. Much of the nobility embodied in human beings stem from procreation, a recognition that our future is shaped by and for our successors. Nothing proficient can come from continually extending the life of the progenitors.Preimplantation Genetics Testing and EugenicsDevelopments in reproductive medicine have provoked another range of questions, arising from the fact that techniques involving in vitro fertilization make it possible to examine and possibly garble the embryo prior to its implantation and development through fetal to the baby stage. This leads to what is known as the designer baby issue imposing an prototype pattern on an embryo. The usual practice in clinics is to create a number of embryos in vitro and retain only those that meet the de sired criteria. There are a number of situations where this procedure whitethorn be chose.It may be a matter of parents seeking to have a electric shaver free from a genetic condition known to be a risk in the family. However, groups representing the disenable claim that such selection disvalues disabled people. The same situation can be applied to selecting embryos by arouse when the genetic condition involved is sex-linked. This would have broader impacts when sex selection is through for cultural or social reasons since this raises issues on the relative value set on male and female and the impact on the balance of sexes in society.Pre-implantation Tissue Typing (PITT) to produce a compatible donor for a sick family member takes the discussion onto new grounds. Many of them were covered in the film My Sisters Keeper and it raises questions close the exploitation of the resulting child and the violation of its own human rights claims.The spectrum of a new type of eugenics lies in the wait in any debate about designer babies. Scientists have rubbished the practice of eugenics as the convergence on a monoculture of i switch types may lead to elimination of traits that turn out to have evolutionary advantages.The issues that I have discussed have shown that there is a possibility of altering the embryos genetic structure either to eliminate some genetic diseases or, to promote sought-after characteristics such as intelligence or sporting potential. We are already screening different potential lives (embryos) in vitro to decide which should be given a meet at live and which should be allowed to perish. It is no longer the creation of live as we discussed earlier but the control, shaping and disposal of life that are at stake. This all leads to a brave new world of scientific eugenics.A variety of philosophers and scientists have argued for a developmental model of the healthy status of the human embryo and foetus. The Roe vs. Wade decision held that gest ation can be divided into 3 periods, corresponding to the degree that the foetus has been developed. The Supreme Court upheld that these periods correspond to an increasing standing of the emerging person in the human community. Yet the national debate continues and the lack of consensus about the status of the embryo has resulted in contradictory legal definitions in the US. fairness of embryo research varies from country to country as well.There is no clear guideline to the usage and treatment of embryonic material as there are too many fundamental questions that go to the take root of humanity. Yet, I suggest that we apply the Kantian tradition of respect for persons and human rights that has been part of our history of civilized societies that balances. By all means, move ahead(predicate) with stem cell research but let us be aware of all the issues surrounding it. Bioethics will continue to be face with challenging questions, some of which we have not even conceptualized. I n considered how to deal with moral issues, we should not narrow the range of persons who have moral responsibilities in determining answers. Both bioethicists and lawmakers must look to guidance from the public, not only from scientific and business interests. The public too have a special duty, which the media should assist in, to be well-informed in these complex matters.