Genetic Engineering

4 Pages 918 Words

DNA, (dioxi-ribonucleic acid) is very valuable and versatile due to the fact that all life on Earth uses it in the same way, (as far as we know), DNA can now be controlled and altered to produce many benefits to society. This process of so called “gene-manipulation” is scientifically called genetic engineering, which is the method of altering and manipulating organism’s genetic or hereditary material to eliminate undesirable characteristics producing new desirable ones. It has been used in increasing the production plant and animal food, developing disease-resistant plants, diagnosing disease, improving medical treatments, and producing vaccines and other useful drugs. Although there is a major issue in society today stemming genetic engineering the main issue is the question of whether or not it is right to change the nature of life on earth to suit man’s desire, and if in doing so will it produce even more negative side effects than positive.
There are basically three forms of genetic engineering that are common today, selective breeding, hybridization, and recombinant DNA, or gene splicing. Selective breeding has been popular since after the Second World War, and is still used today. This method is most commonly for increased food production; only the plants and animals that have desirable characteristics are chosen for reproduction. A popular example is the selective breeding of corn for increased kernel size and for nutritional content for over 7,000 years. Hybridization, or crossbreeding, involves combining different forms of species to combine the positive traits of both. In the past 3,000 years female horses have been bred with male donkeys to produce mules, and male horses have been bred with female donkeys to produce work animals called hinnies. A process known as recombinant DNA, where scientists directly alter genetic material, has recently revolutionized genetic engineering. This is done by changing t...