Which ones should we save for the future?

Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are more disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and race horses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. In the blog entry answer the following question- under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?


What is artificial selection?

Artificial selection , also known as selective breeding is when humans intervene and intentionally breed differential organisms so when combined together with their variation of traits , they can produce a new generation that can survive better in their environment.

Charles Darwin was the man who began study on natural selection and that organisms reproduce and pass on certain traits in order to improve or become successive in their survivability. There for the next generation will survive and the species will continue to evolve.
Say if there was a deer that could run fast a one could run slow, the survivability of the fast running deer would be higher because it can out run its predators. If they didn’t adapt the deer would die eventually and ruin the food chain and without one of the main organisms in the food chain then , food chain would collapse. So these two deer were to mate , and give birth to a number a deer the slow deer would eventually be hunted off and the fast deer would continue to reproduce and evolve to a faster species that will adapt better to the environment and SURVIVE!

Beneficial aspects

There are many beneficial aspects. Firstly relate to the topic of endangered animals.
Animals that can’t survive well due to being over powered by the food chain or the environment can be saved and re-grow in numbers if artificial selection intervened. Then they can have stronger immune systems and continue to evolve. Secondly if it we need the species for medical reasons, it can save many lives and will provide more resources.

Artificial selection in our society.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad-cow disease (MCD) was a disease that was spread immensely in the 80’s and it still takes lives today. People were told to avoid all beef products and restaurants we could have stopped it earlier on when there was only a few cattle with the disease , now there are so many that are infected that it is close to impossible to get eliminate them completely. Mad cow disease took nearly 200,000 lives which could have been prevented. We COULD have given them traits to resist the disease and slowed the spreading process.



Why should we save plants that we have no use for?



We may not have uses for them now but as many diseases and outbreaks come up, we need more cures and these plants may be the resources for such cures that is why it is important we save these plants especially if it is earliest ancestor for several other species of plants.

Is it moral? Is it right?



This could be seen in many possible perspectives, the beneficial view is that species can survive and evolve and the negative view is it going against Mother Nature and also for personal benefit.
It is only right to save animals and plants from becoming extinct because they are important in the development of our earth.
When we use artificial selection to make our horses run faster to bet in races and our pigs that grow to massive sizes and chickens that produce eggs faster, it is wrong because we use it to mass produce and sell more products. I believe that there should be a balance and a limit. We should only breed animals and plants for beneficial purposes and to provide for us and sustain life of the wild. Good things can come from nothing such as the mustard plant that evolved into many vegetables we eat today.



How will this affect the future?

What will happen? As I asked in my designer baby bio blog , I asked how far will this go. Will we make hybrids in order to save an essential species? In that case is it right? And would we push it to make human hybrids? HOW FAR WILL YOU GO ?

Conclusion

In conclusion I believe artificial selection is needed because it can save species, from their environment, the food chain, medical reasons and essentially survival. BUT it must be done in moderation because we can’t just use it for commercial success like in sport animals and restaurants that you artificially selected animals. My final opinion is that Artificial selection is needed and that is helpful to our society but ONLY if we control the use of it. So in the future how far are we willing to push our morals to benefit ourselves.



Sources:
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://campus.udayton.edu/~INSS/Dillon230/WebUNIT-III/2ArtificialSelection-cabbage_files/image002.gif&imgrefurl=http://campus.udayton.edu/~INSS/Dillon230/WebUNIT-III/2ArtificialSelection-cabbage.htm&usg=__KjtJ8f30pjGTTCpk1OkKcoe0HtA=&h=333&w=466&sz=59&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ZvOR0Je7OO9ZdM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dartificial%2Bselection%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1R2SKPB_enCA360%26tbs%3Disch:1

- http://www2.visalia.k12.ca.us/eldiamante/science/biology/taters/taters_images/horse.gif |

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_selection

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin

- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/artificial+selection

- http://www.treehugger.com/blue-agave-tequila-plant.jpg

- http://www.3dartspace.com/images/stories/Galleries/main/downloads/600_mother_nature.jpg

- http://dogownership.org/myPictures/MadCowMomentCommentary.jpg

- http://students.ou.edu/Y/Jason.S.Yousif-1/MedicineSymbol_Image2.jpg

-http://www.strangescience.net/pics/ev_pigeons.jpg