Pros And Cons Of Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a broad section of science that seeks to use biological processes, cells, their components or organism to give solutions to problems, there seems to be hope that, these science may seem hold answers to many questions and problems that, over time, have plagued mankind and confounded scientist.
When researching for this discussion paper, it was interesting to see the wide range of applications that this technology has been applied to or is being tested for. Most of the articles I found were very technical and on most occasions dealing with only one area of application. I settled for this article because it had a more general outlook and covered the topic more broadly hence, giving the reader a better picture of the scope of this emerging field of science.
Two area that stood out to me were, healthcare and food production.
In the health field, notable are its application is the production of vaccines and therapies that compliment or replace body immune mechanism. This fast growing section of biotechnology offers scientists the prospects of treating previously untreatable diseases and combating difficult to treat pathogens and controlling conditions that arise from the abnormal function of body systems, best examples are diabetes and
sickle cell anemia.
This science has also been used to improve food production. Genetically modified plants and animal genes continue to solve food production challenges such us hash weather conditions diseases and pests. By producing more resilient, disease and pest resistant plants and animals, biotechnology seems to give hope to the global goal of feeding mankind affordably and reliably.
I have highlighted only two of the uses to which this science has been applied, the article covers more other uses. It is a good synopsis of a large and still growing branch of technology.
This article is however one sided and blind to the ills and risks that the technology poses. The fast rate at which it is growing poses a risk that hastily tested products will end up in public consumption. This in my view leaves the world population at the mercy of big corporations whose profit motif may trump good judgment and common good. Also, biotechnology gets credit for a lot of background work done in other fields of science, the article did not give any mention to this fact.
Does this article pass the “CRAP” test?
No, though informative and factual, it is one sided and pretentious, as much as Biotechnology is the superhero that will solve all our problems, it also presents a the risk of introducing new, more serious problems. In time, it will become apparent if the solutions that have been implemented already are successful, safe and sustainable. Consider genetically modified (GM) foods, they have been around for a while and there has been discussion about them having some untoward health effects over time, and just as superbugs resulted from in-appropriate antibiotic use, who knows what will result from the use biotechnology-developed; foods, medications, vaccines and other
therapies.