Session 7

Prof. starts every session with a quote.  This time the quote was by him -

“When we are able to grow the resources we need,

we will finally be on the road to sustainability”- Gurinder Shahi

I think this quote is very true and relevant to our generation.  If we are able to generate the resources that we need, then we can fulfill our both present and future needs.

This week we continued with theme on BioBusiness and changed our focus towards Agrobiology, Environmental life sciences and Industrial biotechnology. We looked at the rising trend of urbanization in cities and countries around the world and thus the rising demand for resources such as food.

In order to meet growing demand of food, we have seen Green revolution in countries such as India and China. By investing in research and development in this area, there are high yield and more nutritious crops. High bred and yield crops can help add value to agricultural goods and I think it can therefore, help move such crops from valley to summit opportunities. Furthermore, research in this area has allowed people to grow food where it was previously harder to grow food. The genetically engineered food such as rice is more nutritious. Also, technology has resulted in crops that are drought and pest resistant.

 But there are many controversies concerning genetically modified (GM) foods. Interestingly there is cultural resistance towards GM foods for example in Europe. Also, there are concerns about environment and sustainability as chemical pesticides are used to grow more food crops.

An area which intrigued me in one of the reading was the Biopharming. Biopharming refers to efforts to grow pharmaceuticals by using genetically modified plants and animals. For example, vaccines in genetically modified maize and potato and human proteins that can be separated from milk of cows and goats to be used for therapeutic purposes.

Furthermore, discussion took place on challenges and possibility of meeting sustainable environment and industrial development in developing countries. There are many obstacles in our way to achieve sustainable development. These include structural and financial hindrances.

At the end of session, we had presentations on GM foods, growth hormones in cows and bio plastic. Each presentation explored the various positive and negative benefits of concerned technologies. Something that interests me is the ethical questions that these technologies raise. For instance, in order to get more meat from cows or chicken, is it right to inject growth hormones in them? Is it ethical to let the animals suffer for the sake of our benefits? Can synthetic or artificial meat can be possible alternatives?

I would rate this session 8/10