Saturday, April 27, 2019

Useful And Essential Facts About Biotechnologies

By Henry Fisher


A lot of fields have been in existence since the beginning of humanity and Biotechnology is one of them. Distant ancestors invented some of the foods such as bread, which people eat today. The ancestors were making effort to improve their lives through the invention. Yeast is used to ferment dough which is used to make bread. Biotechnology refers to the process where end products are achieved from the employment of living organisms or processes. This is worth knowing about Biotechnologies.

Though it began as a crude field, biotechnology has gone through many stages to be what it presently is. Alexander Fleming and Edward Jenner are part of the scientists and most known fathers of biotechnology who contributed hugely to this field. Jenner came up with vaccines while Fleming created antibiotics from which people have benefited.

Biotechnology, as a term, was first created by an agriculturist, Karl Ereky, in 1919. In his definition, Ereky defines biotechnology as all fields of work that use living organisms to create products from raw materials. In this present day, biotechnology is no longer in its early stages. Some major discoveries that were made by scientists to symbolize the development of this field exist.

Modern scientists are modifying proteins and DNA to shape the capabilities of living cells, animals, and plants to be more useful to human beings. They achieve this by manipulating DNA in test tubes in a laboratory. In recent years, the manipulation is not done in test tubes anymore, it is done inside living cells. The most exciting biotechnology discoveries of recent years are happening at the microscopic level.

Discoveries in both the past and present have been more useful than hazardous. A number of risks related to the field have been widely discussed, they have not been experienced to any devastating scale yet. Recent discoveries and breakthroughs, however, imply that biotechnology is maturing and is being accompanied by a great deal of risks. Several risks related to biotechnology exist and some have been discussed below.

Unintended consequences are one of the risks that biotechnology presents. The field is most feared for being able to produce effects that are devastating to humanity especially when it is done at the microscopic level. Scientists and researchers hope that the many problems which are experienced today will be solved through gene editing and deleting.

Gene deletion has been done in humans severally in efforts to look for ways to control HIV, cancer among other lethal health conditions. The process of deleting genes has been found to be more complicated than it was initially thought. Deferent reactions and behavior occur in the body of humans when they undergo gene deletion. These reactions are usually different from what scientists expected. This led to suspension of tests to pave way for more research on gene deletion.

One more feared risk that is connected to biotechnology achieving its maturity is weaponizing of biology. Whilst outbreaks of severe diseases like Ebola have naturally occurred in the past, it is feared that they may be instigated by people in future. Terrorists and state actors may cause outbreak of ailments with an aim of murdering people or causing other adverse effects.




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