Biotechnology has aroused a great deal of ethical criticism. This often frustrates biotechnology advocates because the objectives described above seem obviously good and, obviously, promoted by biotechnology. One way to start thinking about the variety of critical positions that have been adopted is to make distinctions with respect to these objectives. First of all, some are concerned that biotechnologies have failed or are not achieving the objectives.
Second, some are concerned that biotechnologies may achieve the objectives, but they will only do so if they entail unacceptable trade-offs or unintended consequences that will ultimately undermine the objectives. Third, some are concerned that biotechnologies will guarantee objectives for some, but not for others or at the expense of others. Fourthly, some argue that biotechnologies have succeeded and can continue to be successful in achieving the objectives, and that this success in itself is a cause for concern. The first three concerns can be addressed together because, ultimately, they all hold that biotechnology is objectionable because of its failures.
Fails flatly, fails to achieve goals within tolerable levels of risk, or fails to achieve goals in a manner that is equitable and respectful of individual freedoms. The fourth concern is unique because it argues that biotechnology is objectionable because of its successes. Therefore, it is covered in the next section. The third criticism has two related facets.
Freedom and rights are ethical issues for those concerned that biotechnology will give some people power over others. Justice is an ethical concern for those who argue that biotechnology gives the rich and unjust advantages over the poor or that the benefits and burdens of biotechnology will be unfairly distributed. A problem is a topic of discussion or something that can cause concern. Why is biotechnology sometimes called a problem? Scientists haven't yet created the technology to answer them (they don't understand it yet).
Biotechnology, the use of biology to solve problems and create useful products. The most important area of biotechnology is the production of therapeutic proteins and other drugs through genetic engineering. Biotechnology procedures rely heavily on understanding the molecular biology of DNA replication, transcription, and translation. In the early years, the main achievement of biotechnology was the ability to produce natural therapeutic molecules in greater quantities than could be obtained from conventional sources, such as plasma, animal organs and human corpses.
However, since the new biotechnology is an extension, or a refinement, of the types of genetic manipulation that preceded it, perhaps we should think of the coming technological era as a happy old world. Dozens of recombinant crop and garden plants on the market have been genetically improved with the introduction of a variety of genes to increase their resistance to pests and diseases; among them, tomato resistant to bacterial speck disease (modified with the introduction of a gene for the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae (figure), and herbicide-resistant soybeans (modified by the addition of an enzyme that degrades the herbicide glyphosate), which allows the use of a more environmentally friendly herbicide. and in smaller quantities. The best example of the first objection relates to the claim that agricultural biotechnologies can help alleviate hunger in the world.
Although these applications of conventional biotechnology, or genetic engineering, represent scientific, technological, commercial and humanitarian successes of monumental proportions, the techniques used for these previous successes were relatively crude; recently, they have been complemented and even supplanted by the new biotechnology, a set of techniques that allow genetic manipulation at the molecular level. Biotechnology, often abbreviated as biotechnology, is the area of biology that uses processes, organisms, or living systems to manufacture products or technology intended to improve the quality of human life. The biotechnology industry has also expanded its research towards the development of traditional drugs and monoclonal antibodies that stop the progress of a disease. By the mid-1980s, other BioFETs had been developed, such as the gas-sensing FET (GASFET), the pressure-sensing FET (PRESSFET), the chemical field effect transistor (ChemFET), the reference ISFET (REFET), the enzyme-modified FET (ENFET) and the immunologically modified FET (IMFET).
Biotechnology acquired these intertwined meanings towards the end of the 1970s, and its use became widespread in the early 1980s, when molecular biology was increasingly understood not only as a “science” for learning about nature, but also as a “technology” for altering it. Another example of applications of synthetic biology in industrial biotechnology is the reengineering of the metabolic pathways of E. Genetic engineering regulation refers to the approaches taken by governments to assess and manage risks associated with the use of genetic engineering technology and the development and release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), including genetically modified crops and fish. Therefore, genetic manipulation with the techniques of the new biotechnology has already provided all kinds of new research tools and important commercial products.
Therefore, what has changed since the demonstration of recombinant DNA technology in the early 1970s is the technology of biotechnology. The concept of biotechnology encompasses a wide range of procedures for modifying living organisms in accordance with human purposes, from the domestication of animals, the cultivation of plants and their improvement through reproduction programs that employ artificial selection and hybridization. . .
