Technology and World Change (Session 7)

Technology and World Change

Session 7

Brief Overview

Today was all about BioBusiness Revolution in Agribiology, Environmental Life Sciences and industrial Biotechnology. We talked about the benefits of GM food and how it could reap potential benefits for us all although we do realize that there is still room for growth and improvement.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

One point were taking note of is the increasing trend of urbanization in different regions. Overall, it has been predicted that we will have more than half, or more specifically 61% of the world population living in urban areas. One interesting observation to highlight is that Latin America is facing the largest increase in urban population. I feel, that what is more pressing is the consequences of having an increase in urban population. People move to urban areas in search for better jobs or better prospects (for example receiving better education) to increase their standard of living and quality of life. And once this is achieved, their lifestyle changes because they are now able to afford more things. They start to consume more energy as they obtained more electronic products such as phones or computers, which require charging or some even possess cars that would require fuel for power. Furthermore, most jobs that are offered in cities are often not as physical as one would face working in less urban areas. This sedentary lifestyle then poses more issues such as obesity or even coronary heart disease just to name a few. Furthermore, as more people move to urban areas, this might lead to the problem of overcrowding.  And this, in addition, creates more challenges such as placing greater strain on resources, or greater health implications such as increasing the susceptibility to disease and so on and so forth.

Another point worth highlighting is the growing proportion of Genetically Modified (GM) crops present in the world. According to the data given in reading 1, the market for GM food would have had exceeded $25 billion since 2010. We have to recognize the many potential benefits that come with GM crops. For example, one GM crop would be the Golden Rice where 2 genes have been inserted into the genome to restart the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway for the production of beta-carotene, a precursor to Vitamin A.  The lack of vitamin A could lead to many health implications such as night blindness especially in children. With the help of this GM food, golden rice can be given to countries that lack access to foods with sufficient nutritional content. Another example would be the AquaAdvantageÒ Salmon which possess a gene that would allow it to grow twice as fast as a regular salmon and also an anti-freeze gene that would allow it to grow even in winter so that their growth process will not be hindered. This allows more fish to be produced within a shorter period of time and this could also mean that there will be less wild fishing and lessens the chances of humans actually harming the ecosystem. Other benefits of some of the GM crops could include pest-resistance or weather-resistant crops that withstand harsh weather changes (which means lesser chances of losing their harvest), this also means using less pesticide on our food, which is good for the environment and for us as we are consuming less of these toxins. All of which has huge benefits on the environment as well as the economy.

Key Takeaways

One very interesting thing I can takeaway from this lesson is that there are many forms of biotechnology such as red biotechnology, blue biotechnology and green biotechnology.

Red Biotechnology

Using organisms for the improvement of medical processes that includes designing organisms to manufacture pharmaceutical products like antibiotics and vaccines. Also, it engineers genetic cures through genomic manipulation, and is also used in forensics via DNA profiling.

Blue Biotechnology

It is concerned with the application of molecular biological methods to marine and freshwater organisms for increasing seafood supply and safety, controlling the proliferation of noxious water-borne organisms, and developing new drugs.

Green Biotechnology

Deals with the use of environmentally-friendly solutions as an alternative to traditional agriculture, horticulture, and animal breeding processes. An example is the designing of transgenic plants that are modified for improved flavor, for increased resistance to pests and diseases, or for enhanced growth in adverse weather conditions.

Issues for Further Discussion (Presentation)

Could such a technology be used for countries, which are facing food shortage?

With regard to the Meat presentation, I feel that this sort of technology could potentially be one method of solving food shortage. This is because waste is always present and is in a way “readily available” at any time that it is needed. However, the presentation did not mention how long it will take for scientists/researchers to turn waste into food, furthermore, I really doubt the economic prospects for such a technology. It may very well be revolutionary in the far future, however, as Yiting did mention in her presentation, there is still a need to overcome a psychological barrier of eating your own derivatives. In many cultures, or I can safely say most culture, it is taboo to consume your own waste unless it is for survival, even then, that is difficult to swallow.

How do we resolve this problem of limited resources vs unlimited wants in the context of land scarcity?

In order to solve this problem, I feel that we have to be innovative and motivated. When we are driven, we are constantly being pushed to find new ways to alter the status quo such that situations would be in favour of our situation. We can think of ways to reconcile the fact that we as humans have unlimited wants but yet only limited resources. In the context of land scarcity, I am thinking along the lines of producing more crops within a shorter period of time such as producing GM crops such that they are able to grow even faster, pest resistant and be more resistant to harsh weather changes using biotechnology.

Personal Ratings

I would rate this session an 8 because I feel that we are able to reconcile the different concepts we have learnt over the past 7 weeks into answering Yalli’s question. Furthermore, I felt that this session was really fun with the different presentations!!