tpo21

In this set of material, both lecture and reading are about Genetic modification. It's a process that changes the genes and characteristics to improve the organism. It's specially used for trees to be more productive and more resilience. It's surely has some benefits; however it has some problems that professor mentions them.

First, the author believes that modified trees have more possibility to survive to undesired conditions. For example to ringspot virus they have shown a fantastic survival. However; professor believes that also they are more resilience to specific viruses, since they are uniform in genes, if some unwanted changes for instance in climate occurs all the trees destroy, unlike natural trees that are not that same in genes. Even though a large number of them vanish, they don't extinct and some of them survive as they are not completely the same.

Second, although modified trees bring more product with them and grow much faster, so they are beneficial at this point and help farmers to gain more money from selling more product and buying less pesticides but the seed itself cost so expensive that it's unaffordable to some farmers. And every time they should pay the seed company when they plant it. So overall, it's not that reasonable economically.

Finally, genetically modified trees can provide more wood source for the human need as it grows faster. It helps saving some unique species. But it has some disadvantages either. Manipulated trees grow more aggressive, so they have competition with each other and native trees over resources like soil and water. They destroy original trees because they are faster and stronger in growth.