Genius Genetics

Fifty years ago, when people pictured the time we live in now, they pictured flying cars, time machines, and jetpacks being everyday items.They imagined that by now, we would have spaceships capable of taking us to other galaxies, and cloning people would be a normal thing. Although our technology has not advanced as far as the spectacular image some people may have expected, the technology we have developed today is mind-blowing. A specific type of technology that has developed to become extremely large and beneficial is Biotechnology pertaining to genetic modification.

Genetic modification has allowed us to be able to do many new things in the science world that improve our lives in many ways. One interesting example of this is the genetic modification of food using genetic engineering. Food can be genetically modified to taste better, look better, be more resistant to pesticides, and even have a longer shelf life. The first genetically modified food, the Flavr Savr tomato was modified to have a longer shelf life. The Flavr Savr tomato had a very large influence on the future production of genetically modified foods because it successfully stayed ripe longer than regular tomatoes, showing that genetically modifying foods did in fact have a positive outcome.

Another example of the positive effects of genetic modification is the ability we have today of diagnosing genetic disorders. The way this is possible is by using PCR and primers corresponding to cloned disease genes, and then sequencing the amplified product to look for the disease-causing mutation. The ability of diagnosing genetic disorders is important because this allows people to know if they have a specific genetic disorder. Another important aspect of genetic modification possible today is gene therapy. Gene therapy is the alteration of an affected individual's genes. Gene therapy is beneficial because it holds the potential for treating disorders that are traceable to a single defective gene.

Not only is genetic modification possible in foods and humans, but also in animals. Scientists are now able to genetically modify animals in order to control their phenotypes. An example of this is the Chihuahua. The Chihuahua was genetically modified through artificial selection. This particular breed of dog is extremely small, ranging from 6-10 inches long. The benefit that genetic modification in animals has is that it allows the owners to choose a dog type that will best fit their lifestyle and home. If the owner lives in an apartment where only small animals are allowed, purchasing a genetically modified Chihuahua would allow them to be able to own a dog.

Genetic modification has already opened so many doors for society today, but the question is, what doors will it open in the future? In the movie Gattaca, some possible uses of genetic modification in the future are shown. One ability shown in this movie is the ability to eliminate genetic disorders in babies. This would be extremely advantageous because it would allow people to know that their child would grow up healthy and strong and eliminate the chance of having life-limiting genetic disorders such as Tay Sachs or Cystic Fibrosis.This idea seems probable because we are heading down that path already starting with gene therapy.

Another idea portrayed in Gattaca was the idea that in the future we will be able to choose the phenotypes of our children. This means that is a couple strongly hoped their child would have blue eyes, red hair, and a tall figure, the zygote could be genetically modified to produce that exact phenotype. This could be a positive thing because it could allow one to choose for their child the phenotype of their liking.This also seems to be a very probable idea because artificial selection is already possible in animals, so it could very well be possible in humans as well.

Genetic modification is an industry that helps many people today, and seems as if it will continue to be beneficial in the future. Today it is used to improve food and crops, animals and pets, and the lives of humans. Genetic modification also holds many opportunities for the future including the elimination of harmful genetic disorders and the possibility of artificial selection in humans. Genetic modification is something that has changed the lives of many and will continue to spread its improvements in the future.