Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are more disease- resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. Ones must wonder what will come next. Under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plant or animals, if any?
Artificial Selection : the Good and the Bad.
Artificial selection. It's the human intervention in animal or plant reproduction to ensure that certain desirable traits are present in successive generations. Artificial selection (also known as selective breeding) is responsible for many of the species of domesticated animals as well as many of the plants and crops we have today. What are some of the pros and cons of this process? Is it morally correct? Where do we draw the line?
Advantages
The human population is continuously growing. There are more and more of us, taking up more and more space. As the population grows, our cities expand....taking up our valuable farmland where our crops are grown. Naturally, the productivity of out farming must increase and we must learn to use and develop ways in which we can use what little, shrinking farmland we have to grow as much food as we can. How is this achieved you may ask? Why artificial selection of course! Artificial selection increases crop yield because crops have been breed to grow faster and bigger. Some more advantages? Selective breeding has generated diversity in our crops as well, like superior strains of corn. Look to the left. Which one would you rather eat? The common wild mustard plant was bred to create some of my favorite vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. Without artificial selection, these vegetables would not even exist! Everything from the meat we eat, to racehorses, even cats and dogs have been developed through selective breeding. Dogs were domesticated from wild wolves around 13 000 years ago - and were, over many thousands of years, bred with desirable traits for different purposes into different breeds. Artificial selection can also be used to take out undesirable traits from the gene pool, so that genetic diseases can be avoided, as well has help prevent species extinction by breeding animals that are more likely to survive. As you can see, most of selective breeding has been developed and used top make our lives a whole lot easier. Just imagine how different your life would be without it.
Disadvantages
What are some of the disadvantages of artificial selection? Although artificial selection is responsible for creating a large diversity in crops (like corn) and animals (like dogs), the continuous selective breeding for certain desirable traits can eventually lose the diversity within the gene pool. This is irreversible, and we all know the consequences of diminishing this diversity. Crop diversity (along with animal diversity) must be maintained in order to ensure that diseases (and other natural causes) will not wipe out the entire population. Though artificial selection helps farmers grow plants more efficiently, we must be careful that too much diversity is not taken away.
Selective breeding in dogs can lead to many health problems. Dog breeders breed dogs for the most desirable traits to win dog shows, or traits deemed the cutest for potential buyers. All this really reminded me of designer babies....instead it's designer dogs this time. Its creepy how obsessed our society is with looks, not just our looks, but our pets' as well. Dog breeders will even mate dogs that are related to each other (inbreeding) which can cause genetic diseases. Dogs with these illnesses are not prevented from competing in dog shows and often go on to win top prizes. This is completely immoral and only encourages dog breeder to keep on breeding diseased dogs. The breeders breed dogs for certain "dog-show-winning-traits" like short faces, wrinkling, screw-tails and dwarfism, many of which have inherent health problems. For example, the prize winning cavalier King Charles spaniel (pictured left) often suffers from a condition known as syringomyelia - where the dog's skull is too small to accommodate all its brain. Yet these dogs are bred with this condition in order to look cute!
Conclusion
Really I think that artificial selection has many advantages and has and will continue to help humanity. But there is a line to cross. Artificial selection is messing with nature and should only be done with extreme caution. We've genetically modified many plants to suit our needs..and need them we do! Let's face the facts....experimenting with plant genes is okay..if it goes wrong then don't plant those seeds. But animals is where the line should be drawn. These are living creatures that CAN feel pain. Experimenting with them is dangerous for the animals and inhumane on the part of us. Artificial selection is only win- win to a certain extent.
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