ARTificial SELECTION

Topic: Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are more disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. In the blog entry answer the following question - under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?

Here is a video that gives a quick very brief introduction to evolution and natural/artificial selection:

Natural selection, originally introduced by the scientist Charles Darwin, is the process in which favorable traits are carried on through a species' offspring. the individuals with these favorable traits usually have either a better chance of survival or have a better chance of attracting a mate or producing offspring, thus their favorable traits get passed on and evolution does it part in changing the traits of a certain population or species. This is also referred to as survival of the fittest, meaning that only those with the best traits and the best genes will survive. This change in genetics usually occurs naturally from mutations of pressing elements that force the species to evolve.

Unlike natural selection, artificial selection is the tampering or forced creation of offspring of a certain population to exhibit specific desired traits. These offspring will have traits that help make them more disease resistant, bear larger fruits, or bear a certain phenotypic trait. Scientists all over the world use their knowledge of artificial selection to modify species of both plants and create species that they find more efficient of beneficial. Artificial selection has led to vegetables that bear more harvested produce (bigger heads of cabbage, larger lettuce leaves), fruits bearing no seeds (infertility in the fruits), and animals growing bigger muscles. With the modification of these traits, farmers can sell their produce for more profit, and with more produce, more people can buy goods for a considerable amount cheaper. Although the trade-offs for these new traits come at the price. Are drastically reduced fertility rates in plants, and some rare genetic disorders in animals worth it? I certain would say so.

With artificial selection scientists have modified the genes of dogs to better suit the needs of those who need them. For example, dogs that are needed in the far north need to have thicker coats and more endurance to pull the sleighs of their owners. Police dogs are bred with specific individuals to insure their offspring have the highest sense of smell possible, and have all the strength and dexterity needed to fulfill their police needs, and hunting dogs are bred to have better hunting instincts and very sharp senses. Also, a significant source of benefit from artificial selection that is more noticeable is in dairy cows. With artificial selection certain breeds of dairy cows can now produce almost three times the amount of milk that they could previously. This breakthrough has lead to more efficient farms and the increase in dairy production all across North America. Not only has artificial selection helped us benefit with practical functions in animals, but it also given us commercial and cosmetic aspects to many animals too. An example of this is the extravagant breeds show pigeons. All pigeons originated from the rock dove, or common street pigeon. Through artificial selection the bird has diversified and branched off into a plethora of different breeds, showcased in bird shows. This picture illustrates the vast diversity and complexity of artificial selection in show pigeons. I myself used to own three show pigeons, and thought it was amazing at how they all were so different but were of the same species.

I believe that artificial selection has opened up a world of possibilities for us that are just waiting to be discovered. Looking at the world now and at the ways artificial selection has already helped us benefit from its application makes me wonder what could possibly be next. As long as artificial selection has beneficial outcomes, and little or no side effects, i firmly believe that it is something defiantly worth doing, as it help benefit our world.

Works Cited:

http://www.learner.org/courses/essential/life/session5/closer1.html
http://www.learner.org/courses/essential/life/session5/closer1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_selection
http://www.biology-online.org/2/12_selective_breeding.htm

I'll Have a Green Eyed Baby Boy With Brown Hair, Hold the Chest Hair Please.

Hmm, getting to pick whether or not you child has a genetic disease or not? Okay. Choosing weather what gender my child is? Okay. Choosing what hair or eye color my child has? Okay now, THAT’S too far. “Designer Babies” may be a very quickly growing topic in the scientific world, but ethically, is it really worth it? I’m all for it if its insuring that the new born children have no genetic diseases, and I’m willing to go as far as choosing gender, but choosing cosmetic traits like hair and eye color? Now that’s just wrong. If anything like that were to happen, imagine how little diversity there would be in the world, since people would only pick the traits that they want for their children. A funny way of looking at it is comparing babies with Mr. Potato Head toys. Instead of letting nature chose what your babies is going to look like you more or less just take whatever you want a put it on to your baby, just like a Mr. Potato Head toy.

Scientists have recently come up with a form of screening embryos for genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome. To do this they go through a process called InVitro Fertilization. A process in which eggs are combined with sperms in “test tubes” outside of the mothers body and monitored and checked to insure not distinguishable genetic disorders are present in the embryo. Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis is the process where they select only the disease free cells and implant them back into the mother womb. This part is like taking all the Mr. Potato Head pieces you have, and throwing away all the deformed and badly manufactured parts, and keeping only the parts that you need. There is also a process called germ line therapy which replaces the faulty DNA in embryos with healthy DNA. The DNA removed in germ line therapy would be the DNA that courses genetic disorders. However this process is illegal while gene cell therapy, changing the faulty DNA in grown organisms, a equally dangerous and less effective method, is legal.

New InVitro Fertilization specialist report that the results of their work yield an almost 100% success rate, and that some time in the near future they will be able to sustain technology capable of yielding steady results on increasing the likeliness of certain hair and eye color. However the cost of getting a designer baby is close to $20 000! this would mean that only the higher portion of society would be able to afford designer babies. Here is a video that sums up the results of the ethical challenges designer babies would pose, and just how it would challenge society.

Designer babies pose a very big ethical question into society. I believe that using InVitro Fertilization technology and Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnostics are only good when used for non cosmetic purposes, like insuring children do not have genetic disorders and even insure your baby is the gender of choice. What it all comes down to really is a matter of ethics and personal beliefs. Some may argue that I am going too far by saying the gender selection is okay, some may say that I am not going far enough. Designer babies is a very controversial topic that involves self inquiry and research for one to full form and educated opinion on it. For me, I’ll just say using the techno logy for cosmetic purposes is unethical and should not be practiced.