Agricultural Biotechnology

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AgriculturalBiotechnology

• Ali Soedarsono
• Alexandra Yu
• Trang Phan

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What is Biotechnology?

• The use of living organism and biological
  processes to develop their products
• The purpose is to use of organisms and biological
  processes to provide food, chemicals and services
  to meet the need of humans.

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How does it work?

• Comparison of genes - and video tape
• Both DNA and video tape are long, linear strings
  of information
• Gene DNA Video Tape Magnetic Particles
• Both can be cloned or recombined
• Tapes tend to be relatively stable, while DNA is
  quite dynamic.

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Early vs. Modern Biotechnology

• Early Biotechnology includes animal and plant
  breeding techniques, and the use of yeast in
  making beer, wine, and cheese.
• Modern Biotechnology - includes the industrial
  use of recombinant DNA, cell fusion, novel
  bioprocessing techniques, and bioremediation.

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Modern Biotechnology

• Microbes improve the functionality of key food
  ingredients, such as enzymes.
• Plants enhance to ability of plants to fight
  disease and pests.
• Animals enhance the ability of livestock and
  pets to overcome disease and maintain health.
• Humans determine what genetic factors
  contribute to either wellness or disease.

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The History of Biotechnology

• In a sense, biotechnology has been around for
  over 10,000 years.
• Ancestors method
• Officially started when people began using
  microbes.
• However, modern biotechnology just began a little
  over 100 years ago.
• Charles Darwin (mid 19th century)
• Australian monk Gregor Mendel (mid 19th century)
• Watson and Crick (mid 1950s)
• Biotechnology techniques (1970s)
• Human insulin (1978)
• Cheese Enzyme (1990)
• Since the mid-1990s the U.S. govt has approved
  over 40 different plants developed through
  biotechnology.

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Biotechnology Corporation Giant

• The biotechnology industry was initially made up
  of hundreds of small companies, but throughout
  the 1990s many of these small companies were
  purchased by large corporations.
• These U.S.-owned biotechnology giants, which now
  prefer to be called life science corporations,
  produce biotech products that have both
  agricultural and medicinal applications.
• Monsanto Chemical Corporation is the largest
  biotech company in the agricultural field and is
  one of the largest sellers of pharmaceuticals in
  the United States.

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Where is Biotechnology Used?

• Biotechnology is applied in enormous resources
• Plants
• Animals
• Humans

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Which Countries are using Biotechnology?

• U.S. is one of the leading countries in
  biotechnology research.
• Farmers in Canada, Argentina, and China welcome
  biotechnology.
• European countries and Japan are trying to catch
  up.
• Countries in Africa, South America, and Asia try
  to use biotechnology on necessities to
  accommodate the growing populations, especially
  in China and India.

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Biotechnology in the U.S.

• Estimates of the percentage of U.S. biotech
  crops in the year 2000
• Soybeans 53
• Cotton 65
• Corn 26

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The Effects of Biotechnology

• Why should we understand biotechnology?
• It has significant impact on our lives
• It bring improve our of living conditions
• It can also bring new risks

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The Effects of Biotechnology

• Allergic reactions
• About 8 of people are allergic to certain
  foods, so special care is needed with genes
  derived from these kind of food.
• Help on world hunger
• Population growth can exceed food supply, so
  biotechnology can be considered to help increase
  food quantity and quality.

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The Effects of Biotechnology

• Future benefits
• Future products developed through biotechnology
  can provide enhanced flavor, freshness,
  nutritional value, and saturated fat content.
• Influence on the Environment
• Although the original idea is to benefit our
  environment, the potential risk of gene
  alternation and other changes to plants can have
  new impact to our environments.

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Professional Issues

• Stakeholders must work together to ensure that
  benefit is maximize. (cost minimum, high
  advantages)
• Keep in mind that nothing is risk free
• Make the product safer to use (more research)

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Legal Issues

• FDA has to put label for food which is developed
  through bio technology process.

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Ethical Issues

• Any technology has the potential for raising a
  number of social, economic, and philosophical
  questions.
• Is it right to modify living organism at such
  fundamental level?
• Is it ethical to use this technology?
• Is it ethical to deny the benefits of this
  technology?

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Ethical Issues contd

• It will be important to set the boundaries for
  this technology.
• Animal and plant is still ok
• No human cloning
• Will biotechnology lead to a greater
  concentration in agricultural or corporate
  control over farming?

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Stakeholders

• Scientist (develop)
• Government agencies (ensure safety)
• Companies (apply research to product)
• Farmers (who use the product)
• Consumer (evaluate the product)
• Environmental groups

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Possible Actions

• A1. Leave it as it is
• A2. Do more research and keep using
  biotechnology
• A3. Stop using biotechnology

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Action 1 (leave as it is)

• Consequences
• A1 Our knowledge about biotechnology is very
  limited. Lack of research and regulation can
  cause trouble.
• Future problems such as diseases has not been
  located.
• Environmental hazards
• Individual rights
• People have the right to know if the technology
  is dangerous
• Companies have the right to use the technology on
  their products

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Action 1

• Common good
• The companies will be able to continue using
  their technology freely
• Dont have to spend money doing a safer research
• Dont have to close down their company

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Action 2(do more research)

• Consequences
• Companies need to spend more money and time on
  research
• People will be able to benefit from the safer
  technology
• Individual right
• People have the right to use a safer products
• Companies still have the right to distribute
  their products

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Action 2

• Common good
• Potential in technological advancement
• Everybody benefits

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Action 3(no biotechnology)

• Consequences
• No new problems from biotechnology (side effects)
• Biotech companies would be shut down
• People cant benefit anything good that might
  come out from this technology
• Individual right
• Individuals and companies rights to continue
  their research are violated.

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Action 3

• Common goods
• No one needs to take the risk of possible
  problems resulted from biotechnology.

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Final Decision

• We choose action 2
• Do more research on the biotechnology, so we
  would be able to benefit from it in a safer and
  conservative way