Artificial Pollination as Biotechnology

What is a Biotechnology?

Biotechnology is the use of living organisms or other biological system to make a product or a process, for the benefit of mankind. Biotechnology is widely used by scientists around the world to help improve our lives, improve the health of the Earth and help us to understand the world around us. Through the use of biotechnology, scientists have been able to combat rare diseases, develop renewable fuels, reduce our environmental footprint, make useful food products such as bread, cheese and wine, as well as make discoveries to the secrets of life. Examples of biotechnology include; gene therapy, antibiotics, gene cloning, genetic engineering, gel electrophoresis, recombinant DNA technology and selective breeding.

Why is Artificial Pollination a form of Biotechnology?

Artificial pollination is a form of biotechnology as it involves the use of pollen from a certain flower to allow for the fertilisation of another flower. Artificial pollination classifies as a form of biotechnology as biotechnology is defined as the use of a living organism or biological system to produce a product which is beneficial to mankind. In the case of artificial pollination, the living organism being used is the flower from a plant – to extract pollen for the fertilisation of another plant, while the final products that are produced from this process are the fruits or seeds which arise due to fertilisation. As a result, this process is beneficial to mankind as it leads to the production of fruit and vegetables for us to eat and seeds for us to grow more plants, thus contributing to the food and crop industry.

Induced Genetic Change or Natural Change?

A natural genetic change is a change that happens without the manipulation of genes. As artificial pollination does not involve the manipulation of the genes of a plant organism, it is classified as a natural genetic change. Artificial pollination simply involves manually transferring pollen from one plant to another to allow for fertilisation. No genetic modification of genes is involved. Upon successful fertilisation, the genes of the fertilised egg (developing seed) are naturally synthesised without any human intervention. Therefore, artificial pollination only involves the artificial TRANSFER of pollen from flower to flower, without any modification or manipulation of the genes within the genetic material of the offspring organism (seed). An example of an induced genetic change would be CRISPR; a technique which allows scientists to make edits to the genes of an organism, manipulating the genome of the organism for a desired change such as to eliminate certain genetic disorder or produce a baby with certain physical traits (‘designer’ baby).