By Park Kyu-tae
All living organisms are composed of extremely small cells. The average human body is believed to have something like 100 trillion cells.
The core of all cells contains gene-carrying DNA. It bears genetic information and is the substance of duplicable genetic material that splits up from the nucleus when cells divide and is passed down through the generations.
DNA was discovered by James Watson (1928~) and Maurice Wilkins (1916-2004) in 1952. DNA consists of two long chains of organic compounds twisted into a double helix forming the basis of inheritance in all organisms.
Billions of the lengthy chains are crammed into each cell. Despite controversy, it is generally accepted that genes have a strong influence on human behavior such as intelligence quotient (IQ) and personal characteristics.
The complex structure of DNA chains was thought to be impossible to be interpreted but supercomputers worked it out in less than a decade in the 1990s.
The fabrication and different organization of life forms is feasible through DNA modification. The genetic transformation is the total change or alteration of inherent substances or DNA through elaborate engineering processes.
Knowing the detailed structure of genes is required to manufacture entirely new genetic materials or improve the roles of existing life forms. Dr. Woo Jang-choon (1898-1959), a plant breeding scholar and farmer in Korea, devoted his energies to improving crops utilizing the breeding technology.
While genetic engineering is in its infant stage, it is a truly thrilling area of organic science and engineering. On the one hand, it suggests strongly the possibility of healing for ailments and numerous improvements for living standards.
Hopes for the benefits of genetic engineering are symbolized by the Human Genome Project, a vast international effort to categorize all the genes in the human species. In contrast, genetic engineering can be terrifying with its potential for misuse.
Genetic engineering is now stirring up our imagination. So far we have tried selective breeding to improve better crops, or eugenics, the study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled and selective breeding.
But now genetic engineering is entirely different from selective breeding. The genes are adding to or turning off existing genes so that new kinds of crops can be produced.
Examples such as daffodil genes to rice and bacteria genes to corns are new fabrications of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops. According to recent reports, more than 70 percent of corns and more than 90 percent of soybeans of GMO are grown in the U.S.
Certainly the yields are more abundant and nourishing by assessing the products. This is an advantage to overcome the world shortage of food.
Monsanto Corp. is a GMO seed production company and last 30 years produced weed killers and crop seeds. They assure us that development of better seeds to double yield in three core crops of corn, soybeans and cotton will be achieved by 2030, compared to a base year of 2000 by genetic engineering.
There are some controversies over GMO crops but U.S. farmers are not too concerned about them. Prof. Lee Silver, a molecular biologist at Princeton University, said that any food, processed or not, is manipulated by humans, and no harm has yet been detected.
Three agencies in the U.S., the food and drug administration, the department of agriculture and the environmental protection agency regulate GM food.
Accordingly, public opinion is divided. Probably, there must be a good bit of egotism between agencies as is present in any government, particularly in Korea.
In Europe, GM maize, potato, and sugar beet are grown. According to Ingolf Schuphan, professor of ecotoxicology, at Aachen University of Technology, there is still no end in sight for GM debates.
Many years of research and countless publications have hugely increased our understanding of the effects on the ecosystem. So far there is no clear indication of harmful effects. And yet politicians, too, are constantly stirring up doubts.
Now we should pay attention to genetic doping, an example of DNA modification in the human body. In the Olympic Games, any doping is strictly banned and if any athletes are found violating doping regulations, they will be deprived of their medals.
Theodore Friedmann, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, who heads the Gene Doping Panel of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), said in a recent interview that cheating by genetic doping involves a certain kind of gene being injected into muscles and strengthening oxygen delivery to tissues.
More studies and challenges are ahead. Detailed taxonomy makes diversity of living, creating interesting jobs and more work to do, particularly in this modern genetic field.
The writer is a professor emeritus at Yonsei University and Korea Times columnist. He can be reached at ktpark@yonsei.ac.kr.