Two scientific breakthroughs in the 90s have become very controversial. These scientific advancements drew attention and, to certain extent, opened up debates. These scientific breakthroughs are Animal Cloning and Genetically Engineering Plants.
The first animal to be cloned was an ewe named Dolly. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell, and other colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dolly was born on July 5, 1996. She was cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. The successful cloning of Dolly proved that a cell, which was taken from a specific body part, could recreate a healthy new individual. Proponents of the project said that this would help solve the food shortage problem. However skeptics countered that what started in animals can also be continued on to human. Imagine the scenario of cloning another Albert Einstein, Shakespeare, and worst, Adolf Hitler. This raises the question "Can man play God?"
Genetically Modified Foods were first put in the market in the early 1990s. Genetically Modified Foods are foods that are made from genetically modified organisms which had their DNA altered by genetic engineering. The current foods with genetically modified versions today are: soybeans, corn, cotton, tomatoes, rapeseed plants, sugar cane, sweet corn, and rice. Controversies such as human and environmental safety, ethics, and food security gave rise from this manner of producing food due to the risks involved. Scientists claimed that this is a way to solve the problem on food shortage. Imagine seeing harvests of giant corn, more soybeans and rice. Activists against genetic engineering argue that there is no way to ensure the control of the use of such technology outside a secure laboratory. The big question is can the altered DNA of these foods be safe to human consumption? What is the effect of these altered foods when eaten by humans?
We look at these breakthroughs in divided sides - the positive side, which is to help out humanity, and the negative side, which is to alter nature. Whatever side we take one thing is for sure - that these scientific projects of the 1990s have opened up possibilities for future activities. These have allowed people to see impossible things come to reality.
