Benefits of Genetic Engineering

The article I've read is headlined "Benefits of genetic engineering".
It was written by Anju Shandilya and published online on theBuzzle.com on July 2.

The purpose of the article is to enlighten readers about genetic engineering, to make them see the benefits of it and stop treating it only negatively.

The author starts with the definition of genetic engineering and a brief history of this technology. In short, GE is a set of technologies that are used to change the genetic makeup of cells and move the genes from one species to another to produce new organisms. The technology in it's present form is pretty young and has been around for approximately 25 years.

The author states that there are many social consequences that are associated with genetic engineering, that makes the overall risk or benefit assessment very complicated.

Further, Anju presents the list of the most promising fields of GE. It covers five topics, below is the brief review of each of them:

Human cloning. Mammals have already been successfully cloned (the sheep, named Dolly, for example) and the human genome project has been completed. Although, this has not been done today, genetic engineering has the potential of creating new types of human beings with many advantageous traits.

Medical Treatment. In humans, the most promising benefit of genetic engineering is gene therapy which is the medical treatment of a disease wherein the defective genes are repaired and replaced or therapeutic genes are introduced to fight the disease.

Pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical products, created by cloning certain genes, are far superior to their predecessors. One of the prominent examples is the bio-insulin which was earlier obtained from cadavers.

Pregnancy Cases. Genetic engineering is also a boon for pregnant women who can choose to have their fetuses screened for genetic defects. The latest term coined is 'Designer Babies' wherein the couple can actually choose the features of the baby to be born!

Agriculture. The field of agriculture too greatly benefits from genetic engineering which has improved the genetic fitness of various plant species. The common benefits are increase in the efficiency of photosynthesis, increasing the resistance of the plant to salinity, drought and viruses and also reducing the plant's need for a nitrogen fertilizer.

The author further points out some of the most upfront benefits of genetic engineering. The most interesting and perspective among them are:

- Genetic engineering helps in the process of bio remediation which is the process of cleaning up waste and pollution with the help of living organisms. Certain bacterial sequences are manipulated to transform waste into ethanol, so that it can be used as a fuel. 
- Genetic engineering has helped lower the overall usage of herbicide and pesticide. 
- Genetic engineering has helped with the production of vaccines and other drugs in plants. 
- Genetic engineering has helped produce quicker and more predictable way of generating new cultivars. Further, the cultivar properties are better known today than it was ever known before. 
- Genetic engineering has produced very useful genetically modified breeds which can tolerate factory farming without any suffering. 
- In humans, genetic engineering is used to treat genetic disorders and cancer. It also helps in supplying new body parts. 

In conclusion the author saysthat it is also very important to understand "the boundaries to which the human race can push itself and stop before man starts playing the role of God."

I found the article very informative and interesting. And I think that everyone has to know this, because it's not only connected with our future, but with our present as well - a great part of the products we consume nowadays are "genetically modified". And we have to know what stands behind these words.