Genetic engineering and sustainable production of ornamentals: current status and future directions
It is evident that in the recent times technological advancement has led to the growth of various sectors of the economy including the area of scientific research and development. Owing to the rapidly growing population, researchers and scholars have sat down to come up with remedies so as to curb the looming problem food insecurity across the globe and through the last decades, health-friendly farm produces have been engineered after a series of laboratory experiments and this effort has yielded fruits through the production of certified, food production (Lütken, et al. 1141). This has been set forth to meet two core objectives which are protection of the environment through minimal consumption of available resources and minimal use of chemicals in modern mass plant production. The second objective is to ensure there is enough food reserve to cater for the needs of the population. In this case, the technology was used to produce improved ornamental crop breeds. The review provides the most recent developments of genetic engineering on ornamental agriculture and its significance in improving on the plant in terms of quality, quantity and timely production through recombinant DNA technique, altering growth hormone for instance gibberellic acid and specific gene coding (Kunle, et al. 14-17)
In as much as this technique works to increase the quality of production of ornamental plants, I perceive it to be having concerns on the natural growth pattern and production of the plant. With the incidences of gene transformation and modification in an effort to significantly increase on specific attributes of the plant drives it from the natural cause and hence affecting other aspect of the plant including their nutritional value through ‘contamination’ of genes. Some of these plants are essentially harmful to the natural plants in the eco-system. Undesirable gene mutation accorded to the natural plants being planted where genetic crops were or by intercropping results in some forms of allergies in the crops. Furthermore, they have been known to transfer some form of resistance to weeds and pests that are found in the same niche owing to gene transformation. Horizontal gene transfer can result to emergence of new strain of pathogens. As the genetic engineering tends to increase resistance to the plants, the same genes are transferred to the harmful pests and pathogens causing havoc to farmers in the course of managing pathogens and resilient pests in the farm.
Gene mutation in humans also has side effects that tend to hamper diversity. In essence, cloning can be essentially detrimental to individuality. In order to be safe and avoid gambling with what may turn up to be detrimental, I recommend that such genetically modified genes should not be used beyond experimental purposes.
In my own reservations, it is not essentially ethical to derail from the natural and from what was originally designed by God to be the way it is and try to modify them to meet our needs. It is not morally ethical from my reservation and I do not advocate for it contrary to the literature review. Moreover, such processes are fundamentally not affordable to the common man and overly to majority of the masses/ farmers, thus making the approach a reservation for the few who have the resources and financial might. The general public may not benefit and so the process may not have great significance to the common man after all
Genetic engineering may work wonders but looking at the bigger picture, it is a process of manipulating the natural. It is altering that which was not originally created by man. Is playing with nature really safe? I oppose the notion.
Works Cited
Kunle, Olalere, and Ayo Fatoki. "THE KANTIAN CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE AND
GENETIC ENGINEERING: AN OVERVIEW." International Journal of Research in Social Sciences 3.3 (2013): 1-17. ProQuest. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
Lütken, Henrik, Jihong Liu Clarke, and Renate Müller. "Genetic Engineering and Sustainable Production of Ornamentals: Current Status and Future Directions." Plant Cell Reports 31.7 (2012): 1141-57. ProQuest. Web. 15 Dec. 2014
