Growing demand for agricultural production intensifies over the years as the population of human race escalates rapidly. Small countries like Singapore lacks areas of lands and hence, resources. With the advancement of science and technology, cloning and genetic engineering techniques have been inculcated into our world today. This paper will discuss about the favorable and unfavorable factors of both cloning and genetic modification in agricultural production and finally, conclude to whichever method being the most preferred by the writer.
To begin with, cloning is the production of organisms which are genetically identical to each other. Every copy of their DNA is identical (Science, 2015); there is no change in the genes of the …show more content…
Cloning of animals and plants will eventually result the lack of essential genetic diversity to ensure development and survivability of living organisms. Above that, the procedure of cloning involves a great cost, specifically, when it comes to animals; and it is not a guaranteed success process. This meant that huge numbers of eggs are required for a single clone – wasteful as it could be used to breed organisms naturally which has a higher success rate. Cloned products are not highly favored by the consumers as people choose not to eat products that are unnaturally grown, thus plummeting the market of these products (Theory, 2014).
Genetic Modification (GM), on the other hand, is a technique that allows selective genes to be transferred from one organism to another regardless of the species type (Government, 2011). In genetic modification, genes are being modified, removed or added in from another organism so that the new organism produced has more or only carries the favorable traits. This technique too, aids in the increment of agricultural …show more content…
Certain genes are inserted into plants so that the crops become insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant which in turn, ensured the increased in crop yields for the population in a brief time period. GM plants are involved in the production of vaccination for children to prevent against various viruses and diseases; make ecological plastics and manufacture biofuels from canola oil which ameliorates the environment greener and more conducive. There are also GM plants produced to serve the purpose of remove any pollutants in the soil so that it can be used over again (Compass, Breeding Aims: Elimination of Pollutants, 2006).
Genetically modified animals on the other hand would be able to grow more rapidly in size, with lesser food ingestion. This meant having GM animals will aid the high demand of agricultural products from the population. In addition, GM animals such as sheep and goats can produce more necessary proteins in their milk, which diminishes the menace of contamination by maladies such as HIV and Hepatitis B. By genetically modifying the genes and adding in favorable genes into plants and animals, nourishing crops can be yielded to improve the health of the human