Manansala, Genely M.

September 20, 2019

2E1 Science, Technology and Society
Prof. Moises Garcia

Reflection

SDG No. 2: ZERO HUNGER

The Philippines has one of the fastest growing populations in Southeast Asia. The population of
Philippines is equivalent to 1.4% of the world’s population. And according to the latest estimate
of United Nations, the current population of Philippines is 108, 431, 459. We are not yet considered
as “over populated country” but rather “over crowded country” which resulted to high percentage
of poverty.

According to ADB, 21.6% of the population of the Philippines liv es below the national poverty
line which resulted to HUNGER. There are many children and out of school youth in the
Philippines that are the victim of poverty. For me, it is impossible to attain SDG No. 1 which is
No Poverty, than the SDG No. 2 which is Zero Hunger. There are many people dying because of
poor health, because there are no enough healthy food to eat. I choose it because on my everyday
life as a college student from the province and living in a dormitory, I always walk in the four
corners of UST and it breaks my heart to see old people and young children sleeping on the
sidewalk and asking the students who walk through them for food because they haven’t eat yet.
As an Economics major student, I want to help my fellow countrymen in a good and efficient way.
Giving them some sky flakes and water can help them fight their hunger for the mean time but it
won’t last long because after a few hours they would feel hungry again. It’s funny to think that our
country that is known for crops and agriculture, is also one of the country with most hunger.

We are rich in natural resources such as land and water but the Globalization is actually harming
our environment. Globalization that caused the climate change also harmed our crops that made
them be endangered soon. Just like how the coffee beans is currently at risk of extinction.

And if I were to choose which biotechnology procedure that can assist me to attain SDG no. 2
which is Zero Hunger, it would be gene editing and specifically, CRISPR.
Based on my research, gene editing or quality altering, is an innovation that enables scientist to
remove certain bits of DNA to control its attributes and traits. The cell’s hereditary structure at
that point fixes itself naturally, less the focused on quality which can be helpful in curing diseases
and it can also be applied in agriculture.

CRISPR, on the other hand, is a cheaper option to transgenic building, it is a quality altering
system that is applied to specific reproducing. Researchers "alter" a plant's genome to get wanted
characteristics.

Crispr, as used in food, as it can prolong its life and protect it from diseases that causes root to be
rotten. It can be a help with Coffee beans, Banana, Wine, Rice, Tomatoes, Corn, Mushroom, Wheat
and more. It not just help them to be reproduced easily but also to enhance the flavor as well.
Scientifically speaking, the CRISPR is the answer to the world’s hunger issue if it would be
implemented well. But like any other technology, CRISPR can’t be fully implemented because
ethically speaking, it actually harms the natural process. It can be helpful but once it was out, there
are many instances that people will use it a negative way. Especially if we looked through
Religious Lens. For Christians, it can be a good thing as it improves humanity but it is also like
adopting the role of God. According to the Bible it was God who created the world and every tiny
bits of it and we, humans are just the caretakers of his creations. Gene Alteration can also be
considered a way of questioning God and changing what is our destiny. For Muslims, although
they are also not against scientific advancements and technologies, they also believe that gene
manipulation is like going against God. According to a journal article on gene editing, Muslims
believe that embryo already has a soul and Islam is very strict against termination of it. Although
we all have different religion and beliefs, we must not go against each other and learn to accept
and respect each other’s beliefs for a peace on living.

In my opinion, I agree with the implementation of CRISPR but it should be regulated and can’t be
implemented today. We can consider it as a Agricultural Biotechnology that has its potential to
address Hunger problems across the globe but are still a lot of factors to consider even and it must
undergo to many more researchers to keep it efficiency high until the day that we can really use
it in a good way to help the ones in need and to improve our way of living.
REFERENCES:

Faith, Food & the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.faithfoodenvironment.org/bibliography/ethics-of-agriculture/

Guido. (2019, May 6). Poverty in the Philippines. Retrieved from

https://www.adb.org/countries/philippines/poverty

Niiler, E. (2018, August 29). Why Gene Editing Is the Next Food Revolution. Retrieved from

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/future-of-food/food-technology-gene-editing/

Poverty is the cause, not the result, of overpopulation. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.popcom.gov.ph/about-us/history/25-latest-news/330-poverty-is-the-cause-not-the-

result-of-overpopulation

Shinwari, Z. K., Tanveer, F., & Khalil, A. T. (2018). Ethical Issues Regarding CRISPR Mediated

Genome Editing. Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 103–110. doi: 10.21775/cimb.026.103