Question

harmfulness of biotechnology?

Answer 1

Biotechnology is the controlled manipulation of biological systems, including living cells or cellular components, for the processing or manufacturing of various products useful to humans. Biologists apply not only biological methods but also physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering in order to learn about organisms and to develop techniques for the manipulation of biological systems. While biotechnology provides an expansive advantage for humans and the environment, there are also a number of potential disadvantages to consider.

Negative Impact on Agriculture

Biotechnology has indeed done a lot of good for the world, but it also has disadvantages, and there are some concerns about its potential negative impacts. In agriculture, there are concerns that genetically modified crops may transfer genetic material into natural, unmodified plants. For instance, a crop that is herbicide resistant may transfer some of its traits to a weed, which would result in an herbicide resistant weed. Another concern about agricultural biotechnology centers around the uncertainty of genetically modified crops’ long-term biological viability.

Answer 2

Biotechnology has indeed done a lot of good for the world, but it also has disadvantages, and there are some concerns about its potential negative impacts. In agriculture, there are concerns that genetically modified crops may transfer genetic material into natural, unmodified plants. For instance, a crop that is herbicide resistant may transfer some of its traits to a weed, which would result in an herbicide resistant weed. Another concern about agricultural biotechnology centers around the uncertainty of genetically modified crops’ long-term biological viability

Along with excitement, the rapid progress of research has also raised questions about the consequences of biotechnology advances. Biotechnology may carry more risk than other scientific fields: microbes are tiny and difficult to detect, but the dangers are potentially vast. Further, engineered cells could divide on their own and spread in the wild, with the possibility of far-reaching consequences. Biotechnology could most likely prove harmful either through the unintended consequences of benevolent research or from the purposeful manipulation of biology to cause harm. One could also imagine messy controversies, in which one group engages in an application for biotechnology that others consider dangerous or unethical.
 

1. Unintended Consequences

Sugarcane farmers in Australia in the 1930’s had a problem: cane beetles were destroying their crop. So, they reasoned that importing a natural predator, the cane toad, could be a natural form of pest control. What could go wrong? Well, the toads became a major nuisance themselves, spreading across the continent and eating the local fauna (except for, ironically, the cane beetle).
While modern biotechnology solutions to society’s problems seem much more sophisticated than airdropping amphibians into Australia, this story should serve as a cautionary tale. To avoid blundering into disaster, the errors of the past should be acknowledged.

In 2014, the Center for Disease Control came under scrutiny after repeated errors led to scientists being exposed to Ebola, anthrax, and the flu. And a professor in the Netherlands came under fire in 2011 when his lab engineered a deadly, airborne version of the flu virus, mentioned above, and attempted to publish the details. These and other labs study viruses or toxins to better understand the threats they pose and to try to find cures, but their work could set off a public health emergency if a deadly material is released or mishandled as a result of human error.


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