What does the future hold for biotechnology? The
answers to this question are as varied as the
individuals to whom the question is posed.
COULD THESE BELOW MENTIONED SCENARIOS BE OUR
FUTURE?
Two particular works—Aldous Huxley’s novel, A
Brave New World, and Andrew Niccol’s film,
Gattaca—paint futuristic societies wherein
biotechnology has perfected genetic engineering.
In A Brave New World, children are ‘produced’ in
the Hatchery rather than born. Similarly,
Gattaca (spelled using only the letters
representing the four DNA nucleotides) depicts a
world of genetic selection in which parents can
choose which of their gene combinations they
wish to hand down to their children.
Progress in
biotechnology is currently working on
environmentally-friendly biodegradation
processes for a cleaner, healthier planet,
experimenting with until-now untapped energy
sources, and devising useful consumer chemicals
such as adhesives, detergents, dyes, flavors,
perfumes, and plastics.
With the progress seen thus far in the fight
against deadly diseases such as polio and small
pox, it is not beyond reason that biotechnology
may hold the promise for effective treatments or
even cures for, say, cancer and AIDS.
Gene therapy may well become the method whereby
we correct congenital disease caused by faulty
genes.
Stem cell research may prove the panacea for
Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and
muscular dystrophy.
Also, given the genetic improvements made with
crop yield and nutritive value, world hunger and
malnutrition may witness their denouement with
the continual advancement of biotechnology.
HOW WILL YOU BALANCE THE PROSPECTS AND DANGER
OF THIS TECHNOLOGY?
The future for biotechnology is a chest of
ineffable promise—the quality of life improved,
diseases expunged, hunger terminated, and untold
possibilities broached. We all await the future.
Quite possibly, the next chapter in the
Information Age may be the “AGE OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY.”
