New and Improved

Genetic engineering has and will continue to provide new ways to control some of the harmful effects the environment can have on plants humans depend on. The tedious work of genetically engineering plants in the laboratory has shown to allow a more simplified gardening process out in the field. Genetically altered plants have shown the ability to withstand the harmful effects of bugs and diseases without the need for farmers to apply herbicides and pesticides to their crops. “Genetic engineering promises to replace expensive and toxic chemicals with expensive but apparently benign genetic information: crops that, like my NewLeafs, can protect themselves from insects and diseases without the help of pesticides” (Pollan 191). Although genetic engineering in plants is expensive, the benefits of avoiding the toxic chemicals, which would otherwise be required to protect the crops, far outweigh the cost. Because the potato can now protect itself with a gene that is not harmful to the potato eater, we do not have to apply insecticides and worry of their detrimental effects both to the eater as well as the potential runoff into nearby streams which may later prove dangerous to our water supply and other animals.
Pollan discusses how the Inca would plant a wide variety of potatoes within one garden. Although this variety may have been due to the Incas love to experiment, they were able to observe the conditions in which certain potatoes grow and thrive. “The Andean potato farm represented an intricate ordering of nature that… can withstand virtually anything nature is apt to throw at it” (Pollan 193). In this sense, it is the variety of the Incan farm that promised the people, no matter what the weather or environment, would yield edible results. In the variety of potatoes, the Incan people were able to avoid any threat of famine. Genetic engineering is the modern solution to overcoming the uncertainties nature may bring. Instead of planting a variety of plants and hoping that at least some will survive, we can genetically alter plants and allow the strongest to grow. We can now be much more confident that they will grow, for we are protecting them against some of the uncertainties of nature. The more we learn about and practice genetic engineering, the more effective and beneficial the process will become.