Fw: Biotechnology - another view

[Guest guest]

the other side of the coin.............

 

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> Since life began, genes have crossed the boundaries of related and

> unrelated species in nature. Biotechnology applications by humans date

> back to 1800 B.C., when people began using yeast to leaven bread and

> ferment wine. By the 1860s, people started breeding plants through

> deliberate

> cross-pollination. They moved and selected genes to enhance the

> beneficial qualities of plants through cross-breeding without knowing

> the traits for

> which the genes coded. Most foods, including rice, oats, potatoes,

> corn, wheat and tomatoes, are the products of traditional

> cross-breeding. This

> time-tested practice continues to produce crops with desirable traits.

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> However, traditional cross-breeding has its limitations. It can only

> occur in the same or related plant species, so genetic resources

> available to any one

> plant are limited. Moreover, when plants are cross-bred, all 100,000

> or so of each plant's genes are mixed, producing random combinations.

> Since

> traditional plant breeders ultimately want only a few genes or traits

> transferred, they typically spend 10 to 12 years backcrossing hybrids

> with the original

> plants to obtain the desired traits and to breed out the tens of

> thousands of unwanted genes. Clearly, this process is not speedy or

> precise.

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> Modern biotechnology or genetic modification adds tremendous

> timeliness and precision to this process. It is the result of

> scientists understanding and

> using what nature has been doing unaided since life began.

> Complete article at:

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http://www.quackwatch.com/cgi-bin/mfs/24/home/sbinfo/public_html/03HealthPro

> motion/gmo.html?17#mfs

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> Biotechnology and our health - benefits:

> Biotechnology is a critically important tool in the research and

development

> of new medical products and therapies. Biotechnology also can be used to

> manufacture products for our health care system to save lives and improve

> our quality of life.

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> Current biotechnology benefits in the broad area of health care include:

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> Drugs to treat cancers, AIDS, diabetes, hormonal disorders and other

> diseases; vaccines, antibiotics, interferon, insulin and growth

> hormones.

> Diagnostic products to help doctors identify disease, screen blood

> and perform other life-saving tests

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> In the future, biotechnology will make even greater contributions to

> health care:

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> New vaccines for common diseases such as flu, tuberculosis, malaria

> and cholera.

> Pharmaceutical products tailored to respond to the genetic

> characteristics of individual patients.

> Products to regenerate damaged spinal cord or brain tissue.

> Gene therapy for hereditary and other disorders.

> http://www.biotech.ca/EN/health_benefits.html

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> Safety of biotechnology:

> http://www.biotech.ca/EN/safety_set.html

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> Benefits of biotechnology:

> http://www.biotech.ca/EN/agri_benefits.html

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