Sometimes, tending to crops and animals to produce food and other essentials is never enough due to the vagaries of abiotic stresses, key among them being drought. In other instances, the plants and animals may do well but the product they are supposed to produce is extremely limited compared to non-essential by-products. Similarly, plants and animals that would have resulted in a positive yield will be affected by different pathogens thus, exponentially reducing the eventual product or making the product unfit for consumption (Klümper & Qaim, 2014). Finally, the pecuniary scope of agriculture is limited leading to many farmers opting out of agribusiness due to limited financial output.
Genetic engineering from an agricultural perspective has presented itself as a solution to all the above-indicated problems. Through genetic modification, plants that are highly impervious to drought and extreme weather have been developed. A high resistance to disease and pathogens has also been developed in both agricultural plants and animals (Mba, 2013). Further, genetic engineering has enabled both general increase in plant yield and an increase in specific product yield in agriculture. Finally, genetic engineering has increased the financial viability of agriculture through inter alia development of unique products such as medication produced inside animals. The instant research paper is an elaborate literature review that focuses on the benefits that genetic engineering has brought to the field of agriculture.
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Agricultural Genetic Engineering Overview
Genetic engineering refers to the use of biotechnology to change or alter the DNA of a plant or animal to make them more viable from an agricultural perspective. Agriculture is one of the oldest economic and cultural activities in the world and can be considered as the organized means of transforming solar energy into food. Solar energy is arguably the only free source of energy in the world. Among the most important human needs for this energy is for use in the metabolical system inside the body (Long et al., 2015). Currently, the world is operating on a constant food deficit according to the Food Security Information Network Report of 2017 (FSIN, 2017). Global efforts towards producing food through agriculture are thus failing. Agriculture also uses the same solar energy to provide other humans needs such as clothing, beverage, furniture, housing, medication and many others. Genetic engineering involves altering the DNA of plants and animals to make up for the food deficit in the world and also make the agricultural processes that produce the secondary products indicated above more viable (Mba, 2013).
Benefits of Genetic Engineering
Combating Abiotic Stresses Such as Drought
One of the most important benefits of genetic engineering in agriculture is the production of plants and animals that have a high resistance to adverse weather conditions such as drought. According to Zong et al. (2013), “ Abiotic stress such as drought is one of the key limiting factors in agricultural production ” (P. 175). The authors report on primary research carried out to assess the genetic implications and phenomena between drought and rice productions. Rice is among the food products that make a major impact in the global food market as it is used as a staple food by billions of people across the world, more so in the developing countries. However, rice also needs an extremely high amount of water compared with other plants as it is generally grown when literally immersed in water. Rainfall alone cannot sustain growing of rice neither can forms of irrigation that engender water conservation such as drip irrigation. It is on this basis that a brand of rice that does not require to be immersed in water to grow in a healthy manner would exponentially improve on rice production. The primary research presented in Zong et al (2013) reveals that a modification of histone H3 lysine4 trimethylation, which can be done through biotechnology can make rice resistant to drought and capable of robust growth even when the availability of water is limited. It is almost impossible to guarantee a steady supply of water for the growth of rice and other plants. Genetic engineering, however, provides a solution for this water predicament through the creation of plants that need less water to grow robustly and produce a viable yield.
The concept of enabling plants to overcome the vagaries that are created by drought and other climatic problems are reported in the research by Zhou et al. (2013). This research found that plants and animals are genetically predisposed to survive in certain climatic conditions. Among the genetic predisposition relates to the amount of water and salt concentrations that a plant can endure. It is on this basis that some plants can grow in a desert while other plants can only survive in areas where there is high rainfall or in freshwater bodies. Plants that are predisposed to survive in areas where there is only limited water will not survive when exposed to an inordinately high amount of water and vice versa. Further, the amount of water available affects the salinity of the soil thus affecting the ability of plants to grow. The research reported in Zhou et al. (2013) confirms that the genetic predisposition of plants based on the availability of water and salinity of the soils is predicated on genes such as miR319 gene; Osa-miR319a. Altering these genes can enable a plant such as bentgrass or rice change from needing a very high amount of water to flourish into needing just enough water. Genetic mutation to change the genetic predisposition of plants will not only exponentially reduce the adverse effect of drought on plants but also exponentially reduce the amount of water necessary in growing plants thus enabling water conservation. From the perspective of animals, the growing of fodder for animal feeds will also not be inordinately affected by droughts and water shortages. The urgent need for culling as and when sudden drought is experienced will be eliminated or substantively reduced thus positively impacting on farming. Zhou et al. (2013) shows that instead of farmers having to control the climatic conditions which are almost impossible or make up for weather changes which are difficult and expensive, they can genetically change their crops to adapt to climatic problems and still flourish.
The genetic transformation of plants to withstand drought and adverse weather above may look theoretical, but it is given a practical perspective by the research carried out in Saint Pierre et al. (2012). In this research, genetically modified wheat was tested against normal wheat in an artificially created drought inside a greenhouse. The goal of the study was to establish the recovery ability of the wheat when faced with sudden extreme weather conditions. The genetically modified wheat and normal wheat was grown in a greenhouse under similar conditions then suddenly deprived of water. After 17 days, some of the wheat, both genetically modified and normal was exposed to water to assess if it would recover. 19% of the normal wheat recovered while 67% of the genetically modified wheat recovered. Genetic engineering thus gave wheat an approximately 3.5 times higher chance of recovering from the most extreme of drought and lack of water. Saint Pierre et al. (2012) thus proves that the benefits of genetic engineering to agriculture from the perspective of drought resistance is not academic in nature and can enable staple foods such as wheat and rice to not only be grown with an exponentially low amount of water but also survive in the case of a drought.
Development of Disease Resistance
Another major issue that ravages agricultural plants and animals is diseases and ailments which exponentially reduces productivity and also increases the cost of production. The second major benefit of genetic engineering is alleviating the productivity and cost implications of disease and pathogens in agriculture. The study by Li et al. (2012) outlines how the researchers were able to eliminate the susceptibility of rice to bacterial blight. There is a reason why specific diseases only attack specific organisms including agricultural plants and animals. In the case of bacterial blight, the researchers realized that there was a genetic compatibility that enabled rice cells to be compatible with bacterial cells thus, enabling them to replicate and develop virulence. The researchers then used genetic engineering to eliminate the exact genetic characteristics that made rice become susceptible to the blight. Based on the research reported in Li et al. (2012), when the genetically modified rice was exposed to the blight, the impact was negligible as the genetic modification made it impossible for the blight to develop virulence. A similar concept of using genetic engineering to prevent disease in agricultural products was applied in Herrera-Foessel et al. (2012). The instant research focuses on wheat, a common global staple crop that is constantly ravaged by rust. Based on the research, different gene mutations generated through genetic engineering can create different levels of resistance towards rusting. After carefully evaluating which mutations result in resistance to rusting and how the mutations affect rusting, Herrera-Foessel et al., (2012) present the possibility to combine the different mutations through processes such as c-irradiation-induced deletion to keep on improving resistance to rusting. An exponentially high amount of agricultural produce is lost to diseases each year, more so the kind of disease that is genetically predisposed to affect specific plants and animals. In some cases, it is the farmers themselves who are forced to destroy their own plants and animals to stop the spread of disease. Treatment and preventative measures for the diseases are also extremely expensive. Li et al., (2012) provides a cheap, effective, and permanent solution to a disease that will be propagated by the plants and animals to their offspring. Elimination of disease is a major benefit to agriculture, courtesy of genetic engineering. Similarly, Herrera-Foessel et al., (2012) prove that there is no limit to the improvement that can be undertaken on plants and animals to enhance their resistance to disease. As genetic modification technology continues to advance, so will resistance to disease. It is thus possible that eventually, genetic engineering will be able to eliminate the risk that disease poses to agriculture in toto .
Genetic Modification Improves Agricultural Yield
Genetic modification has been able to improve the overall agricultural yield from several different perspectives. The first perspective of increasing agricultural yield is through the creation of larger plants and animals which results in more product. Genetic engineering has also been able to reduce unwanted waste and by-product while contemporaneously increasing the yield in essential products. For example, in a banana plant, the fruit makes for the essential product while the stem is part of unwanted by-product. Increasing yield in this perspective means increasing the ratio of the fruit to the stem. Similarly, genetic engineering has been able to increase yield by enhancing the quality of the eventual agricultural product, for instance, the increase of the protein content within a plant produce. Fernandez-Cornejo et al. (2014) is a general evaluation of the impact of genetic modification on agricultural production within the USA. The primary data used in the article is from research and assessment undertaken by the United States Department of Agriculture. Based on the article, there is a clear correlation between increased adoption of genetic engineering in agriculture and increased productivity in the USA. Further, those farmers who have adopted genetic engineering have realized increased productivity per unit size of farmland than those who have not.
The research article by Zhang et al. (2012) presents findings on how gene mutations can increase the length of a rice seed thus increasing the overall production of a rice paddy. The research herein involved using the genetic engineering to input a qgl3 allele into rice then test how it affects the growth and productivity of the resultant rice plant. As any plant or animal grows, DNA determines the distribution of resources and the multiplication of different genes. Unfortunately, in some cases, genetic predisposition does not favor agriculture. A rice farmer will be interested in grains of rice but the rice plant is unaware and disinterested in that fact. The distribution of nutrients in the rice plant and also the replication of cells will adhere to genetic predisposition and not the interests of the farmer. Zhang et al., (2012) presents the concept that it is possible to teach the rice how to focus more on what the farmer needs by using more resources on the rice seed and not the stalk or the leaves. The genetic modification ensures not only a higher yield but also less un-necessary by-products. Through genetic engineering, the production efficiency of agricultural plants and animals can be improved to make more product using the same amount of resources.
Yield improvement is not just about more product as it can also be about better quality products as presented by Eskandari, Cober and Rajcan (2013). Yield increase in the soybean is more complicated than it is in rice. In the rice example given above, a mere increase in the size of the rice amounts to an increase in the productivity of the plant. However, in the soybean, the quality and chemical composition of the resultant bean is as important as the actual increase in the number and the size of the resultant bean. In Eskandari et al. (2013), prove is provided that it is possible to use genetic engineering to increase overall productivity and the quality of the product. In the cultivation of soybeans, the aggregate amount of essential oils and proteins in the soybean is crucial. If a higher yield in soybeans is achieved at the expense of the amount of oils and proteins in the beans, then the productivity enhancement will be considered as counterproductive. The research presented in Eskandari et al. (2013) allays this fear of counter-productivity by confirming that it is possible to increase oil and protein content while also increasing the volume of soybeans produced. The increase in quality can, therefore, be matched with the increase in quantity thus resulting in more and better soybeans. Extending this concept to other agricultural products, genetic engineering can, for example, enable the creation of cows that not only produce more milk but also produce better quality milk. Under this benefit, the value of the product for the farmer is enhanced.
Genetic Engineering has Expanded the Scope of Agriculture
Genetic engineering has given farmers the opportunity to invest in income generating activities that they would erstwhile not have been able to invest in. Genetic engineering is not only able to improve on what plants and animals are able to produce but also create a whole new range of products. Fan et al. (2015) provides evidence that the capabilities of genetic engineering in plants and animals is almost infinite. The focus of the study is the manipulation of RNA to create knockout mutations. Knock out mutations are able to substantively transform the genetic characteristic of an organism by knocking out a certain prerequisite. In the research, the team was able to create a high number of homozygous mutations which means that allele changes were achieved in both the paternal and maternal genes. Genetic modification had initially begun as an improvement process through the amendment of genetic makeup. However, what Fan et al. (2015) presents is an ability for infinite changes where cloning can be used to present novel characteristics in an organism. According to FDA (2018), systems are already being put in place to enable the creation of novel species of animals through genetic mutations. Soon it might be possible to create hens that lay multiple eggs or cows that produce flavored milk. Considering that there are already drugs available in the market that are produced inside animals through genetic manipulation, there is no limitation on what can be achieved. From an agricultural perspective, the genetic engineering and its creation of new organisms create avenues for more economically viable farming. A goat that produces medicine is bound to make more money than a goat that only produces milk for drinking. The scope and profitability of agriculture keep on expanding as a direct consequence of genetic engineering.
It is clear from the research above that genetic engineering has created fundamental, expansion-based, and pecuniary benefits for agriculture across the globe and also in the USA. Agriculture is paramount for the global population as it is an important source of food. Most staple foods across the world such as corn, rice, and wheat are grown in farms. Most animals used for food are also reared in farms hence the crucial nature of agriculture for the survival of humans as a species. Currently, global agriculture is ravaged by drought and various diseases. Among the main benefits of genetic engineering is the creation of plants and animals that cannot be inordinately affected by either drought or disease. The ability to withstand drought and disease has also been gradually improving and genetic engineering capabilities continue to advance. Another benefit of genetic engineering to agriculture is the exponential improvement of yield. The yield improvement referred to herein combines both increases in overall yield an increase in the quality of the yield. Because of genetic engineering, farmers can now undertake efficacy improvement in plants and animals where the same amount of input produces an exponentially higher output. Finally, genetic engineering has changed farming by making it more economically viable. Farmers can now venture into areas that they erstwhile could not, as a benefit of genetic engineering. For example, the approval by FDA of drugs produced by genetically modified animals has created areas of agriculture with exponentially high yields. Albeit farmers across the world are trying their best, an overall food deficit is still being experienced with scores of people facing constant starvation across the world. Genetic engineering should be embraced as a means of turning the tide, increasing the productivity of agriculture and eliminating food insecurity.
References
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Fan, D., Liu, T., Li, C., Jiao, B., Li, S., Hou, Y., & Luo, K. (2015). Efficient CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis in Populus in the first generation. Scientific Reports , 5 , 12217. doi: 10.1038/srep12217
FDA. (2018). Animals with intentionally altered genomic DNA. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/GeneticEngineering/GeneticallyEngineeredAnimals/default.htm
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