The Pros And Cons Of Hybridization

From the beginning of the early ages, humans had always lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but it was not until a couple thousand years ago that they started to transition into an agricultural lifestyle (B.M. CHASSEY, 2007). Before genetic engineering even existed, some plants bred naturally in their own environment with no human interference and these are known as “hybrids.” Many argue that hybridization and genetic engineering are essentially the same thing. Ancestors of modern Native Americans also engaged in genetic engineering thousands of years ago for cultivating essential crops. Farmers have always cultivated crops that suit their own needs and used them for food and other purposes. Our ancestors chose specific crops and modified them simply by “…Selecting those with the largest, tastiest or most robust offspring for propagation.”(Prakash & Conko, 2003) In the 19th century, Gregor Mendel’s genetic theory caused an increase in harvest hybridization which gave rise to new genetic discoveries. Throughout history, humans have always been modifying plants… just not the way we do it today. Even without the knowledge or technology for splicing one organism and putting it in another, humans have unknowingly modified
Technology commentator, Robert X. Cringley, states,“Here’s the secret of hybrid corn. Hybridization is just crude genetic engineering.” Genetic engineering is when a DNA is manually added to an organism in hopes of adding new traits that are not already found in that specific organism.(agbiosafety, n.d.) Both genetic engineering and hybridization result in new genetic types. Although their processes might be different, they still achieve the same end-result: new genetic