Biotechnology: Advantages and disadvantages for agriculture

At the present, we are in the "Biotechnological Era" based on the molecular genetics. It has already given spectacular initial successes and short term big innovations are expected, with huge commercial repercussions. The biotechnology is all technological application that uses biological systems and alive organisms or its derivates for the creation or modification of products or processes for specific uses. The genetic engineering has allowed to identify and to isolate specific genes of the DNA in the donating organism by means of restriction enzymes that act as "chemical scissor", to transfer the isolated gene of the DNA of receiving organism by means of enzymes, achieving that receiving organism decodes the new information and produces a new protein that will allow it to acquire a new trait or feature. So far, resistant plants to insects and pathogen have been produced; better products, as fruits with lingering period of storage; products with better nutritious properties, as a bigger content of proteins, oils, amino acids, etc.; and with industrial improvements, as a bigger content of fruit solids. In general, farmers that have begun to sow transgenic crops are satisfied. The area sowed with transgenic crops has also been increased quickly. The extension sowed in 1999 (27.8 millions ha) increased to 44% in one year. The ecologists and biologists point out that the introduction of genes of non related species is not the same that the traditional breeding, because natural barriers are jumped and combinations are created that don't exist previously in the nature, giving place to "artificial" individuals that violate natural laws that impede the crossing among biologically different organisms. Biotechnologists point out that the genetic engineering is a precise technique, because well characterized DNA is introduced, while in the traditional breeding, the desirable character is transferred together with much material genetic without characterizing, of which their impacts are unknown. The preliminary data about the use of transgenic crops of "first generation" indicate that acquired traits allow them to boost the productivity at field level, well be reducing the required inputs or increasing yields