Brief Overview:
This week, we’re looking at the other half of biobusiness,
namely the businesses focusing on green biotech (plants), white biotech
(industrial) and blue biotech (blue).
The technology adoption gap that exists in biotechnology is 8 years
long; it takes 8 years for a great innovation to be adopted by the masses,
which explains why biotech seems to be lagging behind most other industries.
Agriculture amounts for 40% of the world’s jobs but only
produces 25% of the world’s GDP. This imbalance might change in the future as
more people shift to the cities in the hopes of finding new jobs and better
facilities. However, this same change could amount to new problems. These
facilities provide for a sedentary lifestyle as consumption patterns, exercise,
healthcare and energy usage all change. These new problems could be great
opportunities to enterprising people though.
Now to briefly recap on the latest developments of
biobusiness. First, we’ll look at the agricultural and food sector. Fish
farming accounts for 70% of the world’s fish supply, GM foods (such as
vegetables and grain and even fish) are still a highly debatable topic, pre-cut
vegetables are made for our convenience but may not be the best development for
the environment. Sustainability of the world’s natural resources such as
forests also rest on our judicious or reckless placement of farms and
infrastructure.
Next, we’ll take a look at industrial biotechnology. One of
the best developments in this industry so far is the use of enzymes. These
enzymes are used in detergents, cleaners, tanneries, tenderize meat, create
medicine and even have uses in the field of mining. Thanks to their properties
of being bio-catalysts, there are many advantages to using these (even more so
than last time). There is also a change of some farmers to specialized farmers
(farmists). These farmers can apply mechanization in large farming to save costs of production and manpower. Also,
these have applications in the production of certain products such as synthetic
spider’s silk protein which will be discussed in the key takeaways.
Key takeaways:
GMO’s are a double-edged sword. As with any new development
that we come up with, there is a chance that it will deliver great amounts of
good as much as it can deliver a whole load of negativity. GMO foods involves
swapping or adding genes to manipulate the traits of the organism in question.
Higher yields may be gained by inserting such a gene into rice and corn for
instance, but what if these genes also create new allergens? There are also
some studies conducted that show that animals fed with GM foods for a few
generations suffered from enlarged kidneys and livers and some of the animals
tested over a few generations (of the animals) showed that they produced fewer
offspring compared to their non-GMO fed counterparts. It is fair to say that
some of these tests may not have been done correctly but the there is a silent
implication it might be true if the GMO companies’ employees themselves refuse
to eat the GMO products (click
here).
On the other hand, we can also say that without genetic
modification of the plants, we wouldn’t even have agriculture. The process of
domesticating plants for agriculture has been going on for thousands of years.
These processes are also part of the Green Revolution allowing more food to be
grown with less land, increasing overall output and providing more food to the
masses. Another point worth noting here is that our ancestors performed genetic
modification without the use of high-tech gene placement methods, the plants
themselves could do this naturally so to speak. If our current methods of gene
manipulation for GMO food is wrong, hopefully we will be able to find out
before it’s too late.
Enzymes are awesome. The industry has managed to apply
enzymes in a variety of uses as discussed above. Enzymes were used mostly for
the production of some confectionaries and drinks like cheese, yoghurt and
beer. Nowadays, these little guys help to reduce water requirement for some
products, remove the need for vast amounts of harsh chemicals being applied to
fabrics in fabric production and are even able to help in the mining sector!
These are also helping to turn more of our industries into environmentally
friendly ones making us one step closer to leaving no negative effect on Mother
Nature. This proves that it may be possible for mankind to live in harmony with
nature without disturbing the delicate balance.
Class ratings:
Once again, the class was entertaining, comprehensive and
overall enjoyable. Well done to all the brave souls who presented today (my
turn’s in the next class). I’ll give this class a 9/10.
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