Genetic Tools and Societal Improvement

Genetic Tools and Societal Improvement

Genetics is a field of biology that deals with the study of genes and how genetic variation affects the hereditary traits of the resultant being. The concepts of diversity is a crucial aspect of life that is mostly contributed to by the genetic modification of various organisms. With the recent developments in the modern medical field, the field of genetics has mainly been affected and is being used to come up with new treatment approaches. Genetics is also being applied in other areas such as agriculture, which is helping to come up with better crop species that are better and improved in various ways such as pest and disease resistance. Genetic tools are therefore being used to improve the social aspects in multiple forms such as medicine and agriculture, thereby helping to improve the quality of life.

Genetics and medicine

As identified, genetics has been incorporated in various aspects of human life, and the medical field is one such way in which genetics is linked to the evolutionary and contemporary field of medicine. Genetics cam to get incorporated in the field of medicine after it got identified that some of the diseases that some of the patients were suffering from were genetically transmitted. This, therefore, led to the inception of the idea that it was possible to treat some of these underlying conditions by understanding the genetic relation of the disease, the reverse-engineered solutions can be developed. This has been the case in treating conditions such as chromosomes abnormalities, which has been used to reverse some underlying conditions such as genetic mutation and other gene ailments.

Genetics in agriculture

The underlying genetic principle in this contemporary production issue is genetic engineering. With the advanced research in the field of science and crop propagation methods, it has become possible to come up with new and improved production methods as well as crop species that can rest some of the adverse conditions in the field while maintaining high yields at the same time.  This has been achieved by studying crop propagation techniques that facilitate the breeding of desirable crop strains with other species that are less resistant, and in the process, a new twist is developed, which exhibits the properties of the two crop species bred.  This has proven to be resourceful in helping to address some prevalent problems such as food shortage.

Genetics and conservation issues

Genetics has also been applied in the field of conservation, where species that may be prone to undergoing extinction can now be preserved for scientific research purposes. “Conservation genetics is an interdisciplinary subfield of Population Genetics that aims to understand the dynamics of genes in populations principally to avoid extinction (Phillips, 2006). Therefore, it applies genetic methods to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity” (Phillips, 2006). Biodiversity is an essential aspect of the ecosystem, given that any organism in the ecosystem plays a critical role in ensuring that there is the maintenance of the natural eco-balance (Phillips, 2006). Conservation genetics is, therefore, serving the above position by providing that there is continuity in the biological function ability of a given ecosystem.

Conclusion

Genetic tools are being used to improve society by altering life at the genetic level to come up with better-adapted species and organisms that can survive in the harshest of conditions. Genetics has also revolutionized various aspects of the medical as well as the agricultural sector and contributed to the conservational issues for biodiversity purposes. This is, therefore, a field of science that requires investment for further development, thereby contributing to the overall societal improvement.

References

Phillips, R. L. (2006). Genetic tools from nature and the nature of genetic tools. Crop Science, 46(5), 2245-2252.