Modification of plant, animals, and microbes tissue to produce food for human consumption begun many years ago. The scientifically induced modifications and natural transformation brought about by changes in environmental conditions have resulted in new species of plant and animals that are used food for human beings. The new plant and animals have entirely different genetic makeup from the original genetic composition. The importance of genetic engineering has been the production of more food volumes to meet the growing human population. For the same size of land, farm produce has been enhanced. Furthermore, the produce has been more nutritious and tastier. On the cost of production, genetic production engineering has been reported to result in expenses involved in the manufacture. The production cost is lowered due to improved resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses by the modified plants. The modified organism has an enhanced adaptability to various ecological conditions. Currently, more initiatives to do plant and animals’ modification are going on. Various researchers are conducting numerous experiments to come up with more genetically modified plants and animals.
Background
Developing a genetically engineered plant or animal species is never easy. It takes much time; sometimes the research and experiments take more than ten years. According to international biotechnology standards, any form of genetic engineering has to take more than twelve years of testing to ensure the final result of the initiative meets the safety standards desired. For greater assurance, the deleterious features can be identified and corrected before production is commercialized (Frewer, Howard, & Shepherd, 2007) .
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Simple selection is the oldest form of genetic engineering. In simple selection, plants and animals observed with the superior genetic composition are identified and selected for continued propagation. The species that have indicated poor characteristics are discarded or consumed, bringing an end to their existence. The seeds determined to be from plants with superior traits are planted to ensure more productivity. Over time, the procedure is repeated, making the plants and animals with desired qualities continue to thrive. The simple selection has improved to the modern day marker-assisted selection. Marker-assisted selection utilizes molecular analysis to detect organism likely to have desired qualities and have them included in the next generation. Success utilization of the marker-assisted selection results to improved yields and better quality.
More advanced methods of genetic engineering include;
crossing,
Cell selection
somatic hybridization
somaclonal variation
embryo rescue
mutation breeding
The above method entails the following activities.
The crossing is achieved by cross pollination from a plant or animal with desired qualities to another resulting in improved offspring.
Interspecies crossing is accomplished by having genes from one organism naturally integrating with genomes of more distant related organisms under the control of a particular set of conditions.
Embryo rescue utilizes technical human intervention to facilitate interspecies gene transfer. More biotechnologist pollinates plants naturally and then remove the plant embryo before stops growing and placing it in a tissue culture environment where it is allowed to develop. The method is used as an intermediary step in transferring genes from detached, sexually dissenting relatives through intermediate moderately compatible relative of both the donor and the recipient species.
Somatic hybridization is done by fusing cells growing in a culture medium and stripping off their protective coatings using pectinase, cellulase and hemicellulose enzymes.
A somaclonal variation occurs by spontaneous mutation occurring when plant cells grow in vitro.
Research Findings
Research findings indicate that the above genetic procedure changes the species of the organism by altering the genetic composition. The resultant genetic makeup is more adaptable to emerging conditions made to meet certain desired characteristics. The modification has brought in a new challenge of altering the human body functioning system (Byerlee & Fischer, 2012) . If not well done, the condition under which the research are done can cause several damages to the human body. There have been reported cases of cancer-causing organisms being generated through the biotechnology-related activities. More investigations are being conducted to ensure genetically modified plants and animals meet the safety standards. With a greater understanding of genetic engineering, more species are being developed, and they are adaptable to the current environmental situations.
References
Byerlee, D., & Fischer, K. (2012). Accessing modern science: policy and institutional options for agricultural biotechnology in developing countries. World Development , 30 (6), 931-948.
Frewer, L. J., Howard, C., & Shepherd, R. (2007). Public concerns in the United Kingdom about general and specific applications of genetic engineering: Risk, benefit, and ethics. Science, technology & human values , 22 (1), 98-124.
