My Food's Fake ?!

Artificial Selection...hmm.. that's a very interesting and hard topic. I mean we encounter this in almost everything we eat. When I first discovered that this was the blog topic, I was kind of startled on how to go about writing this blog, it's unlike the other blogs that we have done so far.

I've been putting this blog of for a very long time, and as I was doing some philosophy when I came across something that was linked to this topic that reminded me that I should probably get started on this blog. Not surprisingly enough, I was learning about Darwin in philosophy, who was a biologist and a natural scientist. Darwin advanced two theories: first he proposed that all existing vegetable and animal forms were descended from earlier, more primitive forms by way of biological evolution. Secondly that evolution was the result of natural selection. Evolution occurred due to natural selection in the struggle for life, in which those that were best adopted to their surroundings would survive and perpetuate the race.

Artificial Selection is the scientific term used to describe the modification of a specie through human intervention so that certain desirable traits are represented in successive generations. This process is relatively an easy process. A specific animal or specie is chosen because it has specific heritable genetic trait that the breeder desires. The specie is then bred with another of its kind with a similar trait. The cycle is repeated with the offspring until the specific trait is achieved at the desired levels.

Many of the vegetables we eat today, have evolved through

artificial selection. The wild mustard species or the Brassica oleracea has been altered in many ways using artificial selection. Brussels sprouts, for example, are a domesticated variety of wild mustard that was artificially selected for large bud size. Broccoli and cabbage were bred from Brassica by selecting for large flower stalks and short petioles, respectively. Wild mustard speice is the ancestor for many vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and such.

Artificial selection has many advantages including plants that are more disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, speed in racehorses, trail scenting in dogs, these are just a few to name. Not only has artificial selection allowed for such things, but it has also given humans the access to more variety whether it be in our food or in the kind of pet we choose. However the downside of artificial selection is the inbreeding depression and lack of genetic diversity. Overtime all the undesirable traits are completely lost, with no way to bring them back. Species have a greater chance to be more vulnerable to diseases due to the less genetic diversity present.

The following video takes a closer look at some of the advantages and disadvantages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi9Pa0DHG5Y

In conclusion, I think that artificial selection plays such an important role in our daily life, that without it, things would be a lot different. I mean think of all the good food you'd be missing out on? I mean, yeah, it might not be right in some terms, but we have come such a long way, that going back may not be soo cool. However I think that there is a line that we need to be careful not to cross, because it could cause us a lot more damage then we think. However overall I don't oppose artificial selection.





Works cited
http://www.wikianswers.com/Q/What_is_artificial_selection


http://www.learner.org/courses/essential.life/sessions5/closer1.html