In this section of my essay I will be talking about my thoughts and questions pertaining to biotechnology.
Biotechnology has always been a part of our lives in one way or another. Cheese making, beer brewing, and antibiotics are all examples of things where biotechnology is used.
To make you a little more familiar with this extremely useful tool in life, I will give you the definition of biotechnology.
"1. the exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, esp. the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc."
For the moment I will talk a bit about it's role in food making.
In about 6000 BCE the Sumerians and Babylonians would use yeast in order to make beer, in 1300 CE the Aztecs discovered that the algae in lakes could be a potential food source, in 1852 cross-fertilization is discovered in corn, and in 2000 Australia created its first cloned cows.
Of course there were other discoveries but I am only going to list these ones right now.
If we have been using biotechnology for this long and it took so many years to discover cross-fertilization in corn of all things; how long will it take to make some of the far more advanced discoveries? That is one question that I ask myself when learning about biotechnology.
DNA
Am I the only one who has wondered if perhaps one day we will be able to bring the dinosaurs into existence again or create a real superhero? I guess that this is something that I have always been fascinated with. It probably sprouts from my love of science fiction. Star Trek, Spider Man, The Avengers, etc., are most likely the culprits.
Since Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA in 1869, and Watson and Cricks' discovery of the double-helix stucture in 1953, we have made many advances in the way that we use DNA. From using it to find criminals, the making of insulin, and finding a specific person in mass-war graves, DNA is becoming more and more useful!
It really does make you think about the possibility that science, using DNA, could actually turn some science fiction tales into a reality.
I wonder how far away these discoveries in DNA are? If they are ever made, I wonder how they will be used?
Perhaps they would be used purely for scientific purposes, but most likely they wouldn't be. Seriously, let's just think about this for a minute. If these discoveries were made, how would governments try to use them? They have created atomic bombs, machine guns, fighter jets, etc., using the discoveries that have been made in science. What would happen if real super heroes were created using DNA? What would happen if human cloning was made successful and legal? Would the government perhaps try and use these things to their advantage? Of course they would! They would be stupid not to.
The idea of these things happening is quite frightening to me, but then again, I don't think that we will have to worry about this for quite a long time. I mean, we cloned Dolly, (the first cloned sheep from an adult somatic cell) in only 1996.
I hope that you have enjoyed this essay, and please let me know what you think!
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