Innovations: Biotechnology and RFID

Biotechnology:
Biotechnology is the use of living things to create and modify products or to help complete tasks for human beings. It is the practise of using plants, animals and micro-organisms such as bacteria, as well as biological processes (such as the ripening of fruit or the bacteria that breakdown compost) to some benefit. Biotechnology is both an ancient art and a modern science.


Missy Moo is coming along well!

Biotechnology is a part of industry, medicine and agriculture as it helps in the manufacture of foods, medicines, testings for diseases and eradication of waste products. It can be used to resolve problems and carry out research. Current animal breeding practises, and the development of medications and medical procedures are also benefiting from advances in biotechnology.

The original aim of social biotechnology is to meet human desires in order to improve and to further develop our quality of life. 

The environmental advantage of biotechnology is to have creative and productive agriculture, which improves world food security without the need for increasing land space. It also reduces deforestation as we already lose 30 million hectares of rain forests in developing countries each year. Farmers using biotechnology within their agricultural businesses benefit economically via better crop harvests, reduced spending and a decrease in applying pesticides. The decrease in application is equivalent to 50% of the pesticides that farmers apply to a crop, like cotton, which is a major consumer on a global basis. This new technology has been made so the farmers do not have to plough their crops as often, which then saves water.

(Courtesy of BIOchannel)

Radio Frequency Identification Devices:
A radio frequency identification device is a tag that is stapled to an animal’s ear or a small chip that is injected into the animal’s first layer of skin. The device can have information stored on it like identification, disease management, feeding, weight and breeding practises. This information is easily accessible and when the device has been identified by a scanner, which is connected to a computer, it can be viewed or edited.

Working hard on the cow

These identification devices are necessary, and provide farmers with an easier way to keep track of livestock. This means that if one cow or sheep contracts a disease the farmer can put it down and dispose of it properly before the disease spreads. This would result in infecting the rest of the livestock on the farm and could potentially have disastrous consequences and other livestock in outlying areas. It could also cause potential problems for the international cattle trade. For example, Argentina has been said to have the best beef in the world, but because of the huge number of cases of foot and mouth disease there, its livestock can’t be exported overseas. If the Argentinian government was more concerned about this issue, its economy would benefit greatly through a thriving tourism industry and through live meat export.

There was also an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in England in 2001 which resulted in over 10 million sheep and cattle being killed and the most of the countryside under quarantine. England also had to put a stop to live and meat export for a long time. If the English government had a Radio Frequency Identification program for livestock, this outbreak could have been prevented.


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