Homaira Sultani

There are many different technologies associated with genetics as a science. These
include genetic fingerprinting, PCR amplification, electrophoresis, and many others.
Genetic technology is the manipulation of an organism' genes. The DNA of two different
molecules can be combined together to create a new gene. This type of technology is
used to produce better crops and to reduce or eliminate certain diseases.
“Gene technology is the term given to a range of activities concerned with understanding
the expression of genes, taking advantage of natural genetic variation, modifying genes
and transferring genes to new hosts. Gene technology sits within the broader area of
biotechnology – the use of living things to make or change products. Humans have been
using biotechnology for centuries in activities ranging from plant and animal breeding
through to brewing and baking. As our understanding of how living things function, grow
and reproduce increases, modern biotechnology creates new opportunities for food and
fiber production. Modern biotechnology includes the discovery of genes (genomics),
understanding how genes function and interact (functional genomics), discovery of
natural DNA markers to select more efficient plants and animals and genetic modification
or genetic engineering”. (www.csiro.au › ... › Farm Management › Gene Technology &
Farming).
Gene technology, which can also be called recombinant DNA technology, is where
scientists take a gene from one organism and transfer it into another so that it will
replicate and be passed on to progeny cells.
People tend to believe that new technologies always bring danger to living organisms and
their environment. With the use of gene technology, genetically modified food has been
grown. This is not natural; it’s like adding something artificial into our once naturally
grown crops.

Medical tissue engineering is of recent research, and is appalling to see that “this is being
encouraged in the media because this is not a natural food source, it was been
manipulated and modified”. The aspect of gene technology that I most highly disagree
with is cloning. Cloning is unnatural and should not be researched about because the
research could be more harmful than beneficial. We have never had a serious shortage or
any threat of a possible extinction of crops so we don’t need genetically modified food
now. As with introduced exotic species, once genetically modified crops and animals are
out in the environment they cannot be recalled; they could cause an entire ecosystem
change that couldn’t be reversed. The increased costs for keeping apart crops and animals
will probably lead to higher prices for consumers. Fresh food is more than just the sum of
parts, its natural and full of totally natural un-modified vitamins and nutrition. Fresh food
being natural unprocessed food from living organisms that grow and die of natural cause
not produced and manipulated in a laboratory. Nothing can compare to the fresh flesh of
something naturally grown, the laboratory made, artificial meats have not consumed fresh
foods, and they are merely the result of a science experiment called medical tissue
engineering. Cloning is dangerous and will cause many deaths in order to further research
it. The two main uses of genetic engineering are in health care and agriculture. Genetic
engineering has been used to make useful chemicals, including various drugs, which are
expensive to produce any other way such as antibiotics and vaccines. Human hormones
can be made such as insulin. People who suffer from diabetes are unable to produce
insulin and have to inject them selves with insulin everyday. For many years insulin has