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Title: Sociology of biotechnology
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Recent biotechnology was the result of the revelation of the structure of DNA, also known as the building blocks of life. All living things have the DNA structure that makes us who we are. The research conducted by Watson and Crick brought to light how such characteristics as the colour of eyes, the athletic ability, and some diseases, go on from generation to generation. This resulted in an outbreak of genetic study and the development of new medicine technologies, and modern biotechnology as well. Some scientists think that advances in biotechnology will create a better world, a world without starvation and hunger, with less dependence on herbicides and pesticides.
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While progress in biotechnology give significant benefits to some users, the influence of these technologies on society is often poorly understood. The purpose of sociology is to reveal and decrease the negative impacts of biotechnology on our everyday life and our health. Biotechnology is a broad term that can be applied to all uses of living organisms from microorganisms applied in the fermentation of beer to the most powerful use of gene therapy. Biotechnology influences people in every aspect of live: water, food, medicine and refuge all need biotechnology at some level.
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Although biotechnology has been existed for a long time, the revelation of the DNA structure put biotechnology at a completely new level. Some of these new fields - Genetic Modification (GM) as well as cloning, are disputable. GM is the transfer of a gene from one organism to another. Genes are little items of DNA that code for some special characteristics or functions of an organism (Poudrier, 2005, p.32). Before modern biotechnology appearance, gene transfer was just possible by means of organism breeding, with some exceptions.
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Today medicine and biotechnology make it available to transfer particular genes from one species to another which signifies that a gene from an animal can be transfered into a plant. Traditional breeding technologies are very successful, and undoubtedly are largely responsible for the high crops associated with modern agriculture. These technologies should not be regarded as past or out of date ones. For multigene features like intrinsic crop and drought resistance, they excel genetic engineering.
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This happens because selective breeding is functioning on the entire organisms — full sets of coordinated genes — while genetic engineering is limited to several gene transfers with slight control over where the new genes are transfered (Mehta, 2005, p.76). For the most significant agronomic features, traditional breeding stays the technology of choice. The fermentation of microorganisms to produce beer, wine, and cheese is another traditional nongenetic biotechnology.
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