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The Gene Genie's Progeny |
| Section: NATURAL SCIENCE / ENGINEERING GENES |
| Author: David A. Christopher |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/2000 |
| Size: 2,998 Words, 20,241 Characters |
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The desire to improve our world is inherently human. From our homes and cars to our health and food, we regularly strive to enhance what we have. With the biotechnology age upon us, this desire is being channeled in directions that were previously unforeseen. In the past 50 years, we have learned a great deal about genes--their structure, function, and how to manipulate them. It has thus become feasible to engineer genes, to impart new traits into living things and their underlying biological processes. Scientists are therefore applying the methods of genetic engineering to provide society with novel tools to improve agriculture, medicine, industry, and the environment.
Efforts to genetically modify living things are not, however, unique to modern society, for they go back thousands of years. Early people had an innate understanding of genetic principles when they learned to cross-breed the most vigorous plants from their fields. For instance, every corn plant grown in the United States today is the result of genetic modifications introduced not only by today's scientists but also by Native Americans, who selected strains of maize for improved characteristics over the past 7,000 years or more.
Nowadays, geneticists harness the natural genetic recombination processes that occur in cells to directly alter and transfer pieces of DNA from one organism to another and from a test tube to recipient cells. The manipulation of pieces of DNA to produce new DNA combinations is referred to as recombinant DNA technology, which forms the basis of genetic engineering [see "Releasing the Gene Genie" on page 165 of this issue; "Genetic Engineering's Brave New World," The World & I, August 1991, p. 318]. This technology is being applied to an amazingly diverse range of problems, from curing human disease and making caffeine-free coffee beans to cleaning up oil spills and recycling waste. The list of applications grows daily.
The doctor prescribed genes
Many diseases, including a number of canc...
Read Full Article
...ton, D.C., 1997.
David Sattelle, Biotechnology in Perspective, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Washington, D.C., 1990.
On the Internet
BioTech http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/
Biotech Appliedhttp://www.accessexcellence.org/
AB/BA/Biotechnology, an Information Resource
http://www.al.usda.gov/bic/
Economic Research Rervice
http://www.econ.ag.gov/whatsnew/issues/biotech/
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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