Bioengineering is a rapidly developing field that relates the principles of engineering to a wide variety of biological applications. Many applications of bioengineering are crucial for the dietary and medical needs of many people around the world, and without them starvation and disease would be far more widespread than they are today. As bioengineering becomes more widespread foods will become more plentiful, pharmaceuticals will become more advanced, and more people will be able to live longer and healthier lives.
Bioengineering is a broad term, which can describe a variety of fields depending on the specific application. For example, Biomedical engineering is bioengineering that is heavily focused on improvements to healthcare, biosystems …show more content…
Crops are often modified so that they perform better under certain conditions or produce a greater yield per season. While the changes implemented can vary wildly depending on their intended purpose, common enhancements to food crops include: enhanced flavors, increased nutritional value, increased resistance to disease, increased resistance to pests, and a quicker rate of maturity. Because they are easier to grow and have more nutritional value, genetically modified crops are widespread in many countries. In the United States it is estimated that around 80% of corn and around 94% of soy is genetically modified (Lin). This is not only important for direct human consumption, but also for consumption by livestock as well as for biofuels …show more content…
As livescience wrote: “The increasing power and accessibility of genetic technology may one day give parents the option of modifying their unborn children, in order to spare offspring from disease or, conceivably, make them tall, well muscled, intelligent or otherwise blessed with desirable traits” (Parry). Bioengineered children could, like crops or livestock, be made to be stronger, faster, smarter and more resistant to disease. However, opponents of human genetic engineering point to the long road to success that those industries had to take to achieve those results. Usually, progress in those fields’ research has been largely due to educated guessing or trial and error. Because of this, opponents question the morality and the cost of life of potentially failing multiple times before any progress could be made towards human modification. Proponents of human genetic modification point out that natural human reproduction has a tangible amount of risk associated with it anyway, and question why the fear of failure should ever impede scientific discovery (Parry). Furthermore, there are millions of people that are alive today who suffer from various types of genetic defects. From poor eyesight to Down syndrome, people all over the world are both inhibited by their own bodies and forced to pass on those traits to their descendants. It seems within reason to pursue methods of curing such people, and therefore their descendants,
Bioengineering is a broad term, which can describe a variety of fields depending on the specific application. For example, Biomedical engineering is bioengineering that is heavily focused on improvements to healthcare, biosystems …show more content…
Crops are often modified so that they perform better under certain conditions or produce a greater yield per season. While the changes implemented can vary wildly depending on their intended purpose, common enhancements to food crops include: enhanced flavors, increased nutritional value, increased resistance to disease, increased resistance to pests, and a quicker rate of maturity. Because they are easier to grow and have more nutritional value, genetically modified crops are widespread in many countries. In the United States it is estimated that around 80% of corn and around 94% of soy is genetically modified (Lin). This is not only important for direct human consumption, but also for consumption by livestock as well as for biofuels …show more content…
As livescience wrote: “The increasing power and accessibility of genetic technology may one day give parents the option of modifying their unborn children, in order to spare offspring from disease or, conceivably, make them tall, well muscled, intelligent or otherwise blessed with desirable traits” (Parry). Bioengineered children could, like crops or livestock, be made to be stronger, faster, smarter and more resistant to disease. However, opponents of human genetic engineering point to the long road to success that those industries had to take to achieve those results. Usually, progress in those fields’ research has been largely due to educated guessing or trial and error. Because of this, opponents question the morality and the cost of life of potentially failing multiple times before any progress could be made towards human modification. Proponents of human genetic modification point out that natural human reproduction has a tangible amount of risk associated with it anyway, and question why the fear of failure should ever impede scientific discovery (Parry). Furthermore, there are millions of people that are alive today who suffer from various types of genetic defects. From poor eyesight to Down syndrome, people all over the world are both inhibited by their own bodies and forced to pass on those traits to their descendants. It seems within reason to pursue methods of curing such people, and therefore their descendants,