Contributions of Biotechnology to Agriculture

Contributions of Biotechnology to Agriculture Introduction The Food and Agriculture Organization some 20 years ago released a paper stating that the amount of food produced worldwide will not be able to provide the constant nutritional needs for the world population by this year (2010) as a staggering 25% increase in world population was projected, though this estimation has not materialised, it has generated a lot of concerns as there has been a 4-fold population increase in the last century (1918 2009) which has led to the applications of biotechnology to agriculture or in other words the Agrobiotechnology to enhance maximum food production in an economic way. The need for the application of biotechnology to crops was also necessitated as a result of the massive crop loss due to insect pests as at that time was treated with pesticides which are expensive and thus there was a need to sustain the productivity yields of crops which was not given much of a chance as world population was on the rise. Biotechnology was able to provide prospects of producing novel, developed, safer and inexpensive crops in agricultural practices. (Brown, 1992) Agriculture is defined simply as the activities involved in the production of food crops and rearing of livestock animals, while biotechnology was defined jointly by FAO and WHO (1996) as the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. Therefore Agrobiotechnology techniques according to Huttner et al, (1995) are implemented to reduce cost of production of crops and increasing food productivity by; increasing food quality and food processing traits, adequate disease or pest resistance, improving environmental stress tolerance, and the control of weeds which has led to the development of (genetically modified) GM crops in some parts of the world. Plant breeding techniques with the use of molecular markers such as RFLP, RAPD, AFLP, SSRP, CAPS and SSCP were improved for plants genome mapping as well as to determine plants phenotypes and select desirable traits for the proper modification of crops depending on the gene of interest that is to be incorporated into several populations of plants or crops generated by crosses. (Mohan et al, 1996) Several biotechnology approaches have also been applied in livestock farming basically because there is a general belief that the biotechnological steps to humans are just one step ahead of those applied to animals which involves the modification of animals to observe desirable traits. (Becker and Cowan, 2009) According to Fernandez-Cornejo (2008), the fundamental contributions of the application of biotechnology to agriculture depends on the acknowledgement of its prospective possible benefits and risks, however, this essay will focus on the potential contributions of biotechnology to agriculture (plants and animals) taking into account the advantages as well as the disadvantages of the technology Plant (Crop) Biotechnology Plant biotechnology developments was based on the cell theory as described by Vasil (2007) and has witnessed remarkable expansion in the last 10 years which has focused majorly on making crop production efficient and producing crops with desired traits. Plants and crops need to overcome some Biotic and Abiotic stresses to increase their productivity which led to the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops about 20 years ago which have been commercialized over the past 10 years either with single traitor multiple traits GM crops as the name implies that genes of a crop are taken and transferred to another crop or already present genes are manipulated with the main purpose of changing the features of the crop in question which may be either the way the crop develops or matures. Addressed in the next paragraph are traits that have been transferred to biotechnology or GM crops to increase their yield. Insect/pest resistance Ferry et al (2005) estimated that 10 20% of major crops are lost to insects or pests and crops are genetically modified to be poisonous and harmful to pests that attack the crops, an example is the application of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) genes to grow cotton (in China and South Africa) and corn thereby reducing pesticide use, increasing profits, yields and health benefits to farmers who apply pesticides without protective clothes. (Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2004) Disease resistance Described in details by Raybould and Gray (1993), fungal, bacterial and viral infestations to crops and plants have been suppressed by genetically modifying plants to be disease resistant for example the ongoing research to reduce the viral and fungal infections to sweet potatoes and bananas respectively. Abiotic stress resistance Motavalli et al (2004) discussed the ongoing extensive research to modify crops to be able to survive in unfavourable environmental conditions such as drought, heat, cold, frost, extreme soil conditions and significantly increase food security for example the use of trehalose genes to grow rice in India to protect it from dehydration. Herbicide tolerance This trait enables a wide range of weeds to be controlled by modifying crops to be resistant to the effects of weed thereby lowering costs of herbicides, reducing tillage and effective weed control measures as discussed in Sharma et al (2002) in the growth of soybeans in Argentina. Improved nutritional value Plant biotechnologies has enabled crops to be modified to contain supplemental nutrients inadequate in diets for example the enhancement of ÃŽ ²-carotene in rice to increase vitamin A to prevent blindness which is as a result of vitamin A deficiency. Biopharmaceuticals Biotechnology applications in plants has been used to produce vaccines and medicines according to Sharma et al (2002) which has enabled production and easy distribution of cheap vaccines as in the modification of potatoes to produce bacterial vaccines for E.coli. GM crops have been widely accepted worldwide (25 countries currently) both in industrial and developing countries as shown in figure 1 mainly because of their advantages which are either economical or environmental. Apart from the fact that plant or crop biotechnology has improved the productivity and yield of crops, other economic benefits in relation to the features of GM crops are further discussed; As described by Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2004), the growth of a large variety of crops by farmers have been enhanced as there a good resistance to biotic (insects, pests or diseases) and abiotic (drought, frost, heat) conditions. With the resistance of GM crops to insects and pests, the use of pesticides is greatly reduced which in turn reduces the costs of growing these crops. Farmers are able to generate more income owing to the reduction of the cost of farming and generation of higher yields which consequently reduce the prices of crops thus alleviating poverty and starvation levels in the economy. GM crops have an improved nutrition levels thus sicknesses and illnesses are consequently averted with a better diet even in underdeveloped countries. Since GM crops can remain fresher over a long period of time for example in tomatoes, the shelf life can be increased in the market. The ability of GMO crops to withstand abiotic conditions such as drought has increased food security while the cheaper production of biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines and other medicines in GM plants has led to a great ease of distribution and manufacture of vaccines thus improving healthcare systems. Environmental benefits of GM crops as discussed by Gatehouse et al (1992); Wieczorek (2003) and Gatehouse (2005), includes the less use or no use of pesticides and insecticides which may be contaminants in the environment (land or water) and could accumulate as residues on foods thus more environmental friendly pesticides can be used while in most cases there is no need to use pesticides. Natural resources sustainability is also improved as there is less use of energy or chemicals (pesticides) while natural habitats are conserved for more efficient applications. GM crops have reduced the pressure on vegetation and biodiversity is maintained while there is a less risk of desertification and soil erosion since GM crops can be grown anywhere irrespective of abiotic conditions. According to the advantages of biotechnology described in figure 2 above, these benefits can only be achieved if the risks and concerns which constitute the disadvantages are investigated, realised and averted. (Mannion, 1995). The potential risks of biotechnology applications to crops and plants can either be health related, environmental or social as further discussed. Wieczorek, (2003) discusses the potential risk of introducing toxins and allergens into GM crops while genetic modification technology is underway is of great concern as there is a potential risk of allergens and toxins being transferred into improved crops while also emphasizing the concerns raised about the use of molecular markers during gene transfer as there is a potential risk of diseases being resistant to clinical antibiotic treatments as a result of transfer of resistance encoding genes which may contain novel bacterial strains. Of great concern as discussed by Hobbs and Plunkett, 1999 is the fact that the long term health effects of the consumption of GM crops over a long time is unknown. Of environmental concerns is the potential risk of GM crops hybridizing with related weeds which may result in superweeds that are more complicated to manage while genetic modification of plants could pose a risk of unintentional gene transfer to non GM crops from GM crops thus the former become wild plants creating ecological instabilities as discussed by Soregaroli and Wesseler, (2003). Wieczorek, (2003) suggests that the release of GM crops into the environment may pose unpredicted and adverse effects as it was emphasized by the fatal actions of Bt corn on the larvae of Monarch butterfly, though the possibility of this happening is very doubtful. Due to the fact that insect pests may get resistant to crop-fortification traits of GM crops, a swift resistance can build up among pest populations as it was feared with Bt crops while biological diversity in nature stand a great risk of being adversely affected as there may be an increase on the reliance of GM crops which could intensif y failure of non-GM crops and put at risk food security. A social concern as discussed by Persley and Siedow, (199) raises the arguments of GM crops being labelled as practiced in the U.S.A where Gm crops carry a label showing a difference in while another concern is the inadequate access to seeds of GM crops or food plants that have been patented as these seeds cannot be saved for replanting. GM crops/food plants have been referred to as unnatural by critics as they are modified by humans and not found in nature as other crops created by God thus causing uproar of religious and ethical concerns as discussed in Knight (2008) while it is feared that these GM plants could someday turn into weeds, adversely affect the natural ecosystem due to direct and indirect impacts on non-targeted plants/crops as described by Azadi and Ho, (2009). Animal Biotechnology Animal biotechnology was described by Cowan and Becker, (2006) as series of techniques by which living beings are genetically modified to benefit humans and animals by exploiting and introducing desirable trait which is as a result of the genetic code being discovered in the early 1950s with technologies including embryo transfer, transgenics, in-vitro fertilization, sexing embryo, cloning and gene knockout but with transgenics being the most commercialized while cloning being the technique surrounded with much controversy. Animal biotechnologies have not received much attention as attributed to plant/crop biotechnology as there is so much controversy surrounding its applications as there is a general concern that these applications could one day be applied to humans since its just a step ahead of the applications to livestock to observe desired traits. Embryo transfer, In-vitro fertilization, sexing embryo and even cloning can be classified as reproducing technologies that have several advantages as described by Gordon, 2004 which includes; the improvement of the reproducing capacities of livestock, the reduction of the level of infertility in animals, enablement of old livestock to donate ovules if they cant maintain pregnancies, the observation of specific sex (male or female) as desired traits while the embryos in all these techniques can also be stored in an embryo bank and can be easily retrieved when required. Gene knockout/targeting techniques has a major advantage of increasing the knowledge of stem cells and similar genes that may be present in humans and livestock and can be use to study diseases and ailments as discussed by Serhan and Ward, (1999). Cloning of animals is also advantageous; as it provides farmers with a range of better performing animals in a generation, is used to improve the population of livestock or endangered animals while inexpensive and many biologically engineered drugs can be modified by using genes that can encode proteins from human as discussed by Van Niekerk, (2005). Application of transgenics which is performed either by microinjection or homologous recombination however is the most advantageous and commercialized animal biotechnology with several examples as shown in table 1, below. As numerous as the advantages and contributions of animal biotechnology are, there are still health, environmental and social concerns that want to constitute as disadvantages to the biotechnology applications for instance the safety of food from GM animals could pose a threat to human health as unpredicted and unintended changes may arise in their composition while environmental issues are based on the break out of gene flow into natural populations as feared especially in superfish as escape into habitats will disrupt natural ecosystems and may cause the introduction of undiscovered genes into the environment. Cowan and Becker (2006). Social acceptance concerns has been a major disadvantage of animal biotechnologies as discussed by Becker and Cowan (2009) which arise from labelling, welfare of animals, genetic biodiversity and trade issues have limited the commercialization of animal biotechnologies. Purpose/ Advantage Animal Models Faster Growth/ Leaner meat Cattle, pig, rabbits, sheep Altered milk composition (higher protein) Cattle Biosteel production in milk Goat Reduced phosphorous in swine feaces (Enviropig) Pig Increased wool production Sheep Disease resistance Pig, sheep, rabbit Xenotransplantation (animal organs for humans) Pig Aquaculture (Growth Hormones of Superfish) Salmon Production of human protein in milk Sheep Production of pharmaceuticals and therapeutics Sheep, cattle Table 1: Applications of Transgenics in Farm Animals. Modified from original source; Cowan and Becker (2006)

The Case Of The Elusive Car Salesman :: essays research papers

I was pacing around Lexington, waiting for my local mechanic to finish the latest repairs on my ‘77 Chevy Impala. My name's Yesterday, Sam Yesterday. It was hot in Lexington, by that is not uncommon for mid-July. I'd had a good several months, and I was in good financial position for the first time since I bought that Impala back in 1977. That car had served me well, but lately it had been failing. Maybe it was time for a trade, I thought; so I walked over to the nearest friendly (sort of) car dealership. As soon as I set foot on the shiny showroom floor, it seized me. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. A sparkling combination of steel, leather, electronics, and a very large engine. The muscle car had been revitalized in the form of a 1995 Chevy Impala SS. It was sleek, resembling the type of car Darth Vader would drive. I grabbed the nearest salesman, hopped into the body hugging leather bucket, fired up the 275 bhp. LT1 engine and took off. As the 6-speaker CD stereo belted out Aerosmith the poor salesman tried to sell me a car that had already sold itself. I had fallen in love, it was the only car that I had loved since that ‘77 Impala. It had an engine large enough to satisfy my primitive need for power, an image that screamed "Hey you with the radar gun! See if you can catch me!" Granted, it was heavy, it had watery boat-like handling, and drank gas like my Uncle Bubba drinks beer. Still, I loved it. It wasn't Japanese, German, Korean, or otherwise. It was a big hunk of purebred, American muscle car, dammit. I picked out a nice shiny new one, called the bank and drove home in my new wheels. I decided to spring for all the bells and whistles; leather, CD player, alarm system, keyless entry, etc. I figured that if this car was going to run as long as my last Impala it should be well-equipped. As I was admiring the view from my office in the Financial Center, the phone rang. I answered and was greeted by a rather hysterical woman named Diane who thought that she had been cheated by her car dealership. "That evil Car salesman has kidnaped my car!" she explained. I calmed her down and asked what happened. "Well, Larry, the salesman, picked up my Lexus for servicing, just as usual. Also as usual, he left a more expensive car as a loaner. Later in the day,

The Manager as a Critical Thinker

The 10 steps of critical thinking Include: What are the issue and conclusion, what are the reasons, what words or phrases are ambiguous, what are the value and descriptive assumptions, are there any fallacies in the reasoning, how good is the evidence, are there any rival causes, are the statistics deceptive, what significant information has been omitted, what reasonable conclusions are possible. The book stated that â€Å"an Issue Is a question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion. It Is the stimulus for what is being said† (Browne & Kelley, 2012).The book goes on to dividing the issue into two categories: descriptive and prescriptive. The book defines descriptive issues as those that cause people to question the accuracy of vents In the past, present or future. And prescriptive Issues are those that raise questions about what is the right thing versus the wrong thing to do, good versus bad, what we should do. The issue in this scenario falls under th e descriptive category. The CEO of PAS Manufacturing, Raymond Sesame's compensation is significantly higher compared to the salary of Coos in other companies with similar characteristics.James was hired In 2003 for a five year appointment with the starting salary at $400,000. During the first three years, the contract promised him raises of %, 5% and 7% consecutively. After the first three years, the Coo's compensation continued to increase significantly while the company experienced zero growth In the year of 2006 and continued to experience loss ever since without signs of recovery. The impact of Sesame's high compensation made headlines in a local newspaper. Employees of PAS are also expressing discontent with their current CEO.As a conclusion, the senior vice president of Human Resources at PAS wrote a memo to the Board of Directors advising the board that the compensation for the current CEO s misaligned with the industry average. He is hoping that the Board would consider sear ching for a new candidate to replace James who would be able to contribute to the company's growth. There are several reasons provided by the Director of HRS to support his recommendation In replacing the current CEO with a new candidate. Browne and Kelley define reason as explanations or rationales that support the validity of a conclusion (2012, P. 30).In this case, the first reason is evidently provided in the table that compares the Coo's salary to the company's growth rate from 2003 o 2009. The Coo's raise percentage continued to rise by 2 percent every year while the company's growth seized In year 2006 and exhibit a loss trend In subsequent years. The HRS Director believes that compensation should be based on performance, 1 OFF reflect his performance. Another reason is that other Coo's from companies with the same characteristics as PAS were only averaging about $391 ,659 in 2007 while Sesame's salary was as much as $100,000 over the national average.It indicates that the co mpany is spending â€Å"unnecessary' money. Lastly, the number of dissatisfaction or the current CEO is growing among the employees of PAS. The HRS Director fears that if union workers have lost respect for the CEO, it would be hard to stop other groups from losing faith as well. The next step is identifying the words or phrases that seem ambiguous in this situation. The book stated that ambiguous words or phrases should be looked in the reasons or conclusion areas because the author wants the reader to accept a conclusion. Therefore, I should look for words or phrases that affect my decision (P. 41).In the last sentence, the HRS Director said that e hopes the successor â€Å"will be more hard-working and willing to do what is necessary' which all sound very ambiguous. Because he never mentioned previously what constitutes as hard-working. Hard-working could mean different things to different people. And â€Å"willing to do what is necessary', what does that mean exactly? There s eems to be implied meanings to this phrase. A person might think doing whatever necessary as breaking the laws to achieve the goal while others might have an entirely different interpretation. Another ambiguous word is â€Å"greatness† in the same sentence.Greatness could also mean many things in this case. It could mean that the company is able to recover its losses or the company is able to regain the trust from partners and employees. Once again, it is hard to determine exactly what the Director want to express by using these words and phrases. The next stage of critical thinking is identifying the value and descriptive assumptions. According to the text, â€Å"a value assumption is an implicit preference for one value over another in a particular context† while â€Å"a descriptive assumption is an unstated belief about how the world was, is or will become† (P. ). The HRS Director considers pay for performance as the best method to determine compensation. By supporting this idea, he believes that productivity is the determining factor in evaluating how good a worker is. Therefore, he prefers his company to follow the industry best practices in determining the Coo's pay rather than the current practice. The descriptive assumption in this case is the belief that the company's performance will improve under the direction and management of a new CEO. In other words, the company's status cannot be improved by other means except for the replacement of the CEO.There are several fallacies that the author used to persuade the reader's opinion in this situation. The author attacked the Coo's personality by pointing out that a local newspaper recently quoted the CEO saying the following line; â€Å"I'm worth every penny I'm paid; this town owes everything to me and my family'. This is an attempt to show that the CEO has disputable character and that he is a cocky ungrateful man. The author also went on to say that the CEO is a very wealthy man as the only grandson of the company's founder. And because of his financial status, he has no inventive to ark hard for this company to strive.Another fallacy that was used is the slippery slope technique in which the author assumes that one event will set off a chain of uncontrollable and undesirable outcomes. The author said that once union workers lose respect for the CEO by circulating an unflattering comic representation it will losing faith in the CEO as well. Next step in critical thinking is to determine the validity of the evidence presented. The first evidence provided by the author is the table listing the Coo's annual raise versus the company's annual growth rate from he company's Human Resources Department.This evidence could be considered as valid because these are probably based on exact figures provided on payroll as well as the company's financial statements. The next evidence that the author presents is the average salary for other CEO in the same industry. At first glance, by using the phrase â€Å"according to the Economic Research Institute†, it would cause the reader to think that this must be a reliable source. But when looking at the footnote at the bottom of the page, the source was Just a salary calculator providing estimates.There re no concrete facts to support that the figure presented was the actual average for the industry. That makes the source not very reliable on its accuracy. The author went on to say that research shows that Coo's median total compensation fell yet the source for this research is from wick. Wick is not considered as a scholarly source for research. The next evidence provided is the survey of executive pay practices. The author stated that 64% from that survey reported salary freeze yet the author never stated how large the sample size was and failed to mention if the sample was Mandalay selected or not.Surveys are often biased because it fail to truly represent how people truly feel instead people fill out answers as they think they have to give. Lastly, the author quoted another cite citing other cities. The author used a source that was quoted in the Baltimore Sun without examining to see if the original source is dependable or not. Lastly, the statement that â€Å"everyone in the Human Resources field knows† is a generalization. The book defines this as â€Å"a person draws a conclusion about a large group based on experience with only a few members of the group.The author clearly has not met with everyone in the HRS field, therefore, he use his experience as being the HRS director to support his claim that this is the thinking of the whole field. The next step in critical thinking in the book is looking for rival causes. The books definition of â€Å"a rival cause is a plausible alternative explanation that can explain why a certain outcome occurred† (P. 128). The author was citing several sources to support his claim that the median compensation for CEO in the industry fell during Sesame's terms, as well as a lot of companies were freezing or rimming salaries for their executives.The author also cited another claim from a source stating that indeed, excessive CEO compensation was the actual cost of the economic recession in the United States during those years. This is the cause that the writer wants the readers to believe that the growth of PAS has stalled over the years is due to excessive compensation. There could be many other reasons that could arguably be the reason why the United States was experiencing a recession during that period such as high unemployment rate, foreign policy, war spending, amount of unsecured loans, etc.Clearly, high CEO compensation cannot be considered as the sole cause of the recession as the author wants us to believe. The author in this scenario used several statistics in trying to support his claim. First he said that the medial total compensation fell by 7. 5 percent, in this case, we weren't provided w ith the base number to determine if 7. 5 percent was significant or not. Once again, the author claimed that 64 percent of companies responding to the survey reported that omitted the total number of companies. 64 percent is an impressive number and we old have been easily swayed if we didn't question the use of statistics.

Pros And Cons Of Trial By Jury - 1252 Words

In the Australian legal system, juries have been the subject of debate for many years. Should we have them for criminal trials or will justice be done better through trial by judge alone? The responsibility of the jury in criminal and civil cases is to â€Å"determine questions of fact† and apply law as set out by the judge and then, with these facts and evidence, come up with a verdict. Specifically, in a criminal trial, it is the role of the jury to determine a â€Å"guilty† or a â€Å"not guilty† verdict which is set in place by the standard â€Å"beyond a reasonable doubt† meaning that even with the slightest indication of doubt, the defendant must be found not guilty. This standard places the burden of proof with the prosecution to ensure the judge or†¦show more content†¦Impartiality is said to be achieved during the random selection process of the jury empanelment as well as through the courts ability to exclude a person on the basis of their awareness of a particular person involved in or a witness in the case. The right to have a trial by jury has been made available in all states and territories in Australia for criminal offences. The availability of a jury can be determined by the offence that the accused is charged with. Applications can too be made in a number of states and territories across Australia for the accused to be tried by judge alone rather than obliged to a trial by jury. However, a trial by jury becomes obligatory where the prosecution of a federal offence advances by way of indictment. This obligatory process is due to section 80 of the Commonwealth Constitution that assures trial by jury in such instances. This being said, trials involving jury’s makeup an extremely small amount of court cases in Australia. Most cases of a criminal nature are heard Summarily in the Magistrates court before being given the opportunity to a trial by jury. The steps involved in the selection of the jury involve; Computer generated random selection, determination of liability, summons, selection of a panel from jury pool and finally the selection of jury from the panel. However, there have been cases where irregularities in theShow MoreRelatedSaudi Arabian Justice System is Based on Islamic Law from the Quran602 Words   |  3 Pagescourt system was created by King Abdul Aziz who founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia back in 1932, the kingdom was introduced to the country between 1927 and 1960. The Saudi Arabia first criminal method was issued in 2001, decisions are made without juries and usually by a single judge. 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