Biotechnology And Agriculture
Biotechnology is relatively new science which primary aims are to increase crops production and develop new advanced agricultural products.
The methods of biotechnology involved include genetic engineering (GE), genomics and bioinformatics, marker-assisted selection, micropropagation, tissue culture, cloning, artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and other technologies. In producing improved agricultural crops by genetic engineering, researchers aim for strains with the properties such as herbicide resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, stress resistance and altered composition. All these properties will help farmers and large production companies to grow crops which will benefits in producing new products, increasing quality and quantity of existing products and improving ingredients of crops so that their production will ensure healthy and tasty food. For example, transgenic plants grew better under drought conditions and responded better when brought out of water stress. Next, such crops will allow producing potato starch with high amylopectin content for making paper, textiles and adhesives and rapeseed oil with greater erucic acid levels for plastic and industrial lubricants production.
Biotechnology is proving to be a vital complement to conventional agricultural research, improving breeding and conservation programmes and giving insights into understanding and controlling plant diseases. Aside from making conventional research more precise, GE also gives scientists the dramatic ability to transfer genetic material between organisms that normally cannot be combined through natural methods. Along with this newfound ability, however, comes new issues and concerns that need to be addressed before any large-scale adoption can take place. These include unintended transfer of transgenic genes, development of resistance by weeds, pests and diseases, and potential allergies from exotic proteins. Transparent and impartial evaluation of developed strains to answer these questions rather than rely on media hype will safeguard human health, protect the environment , and facilitate public acceptance of genetically engineered crops.
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