Ever since the death of the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes, men have been striving to understand the human body to prolong life as they wish. Up to the time of his death in 1650, Descartes was deeply concerned with how he could prolong his own life and modern scientists have picked up this pursuit. According to scientists, life is a part of the natural world and as such, it can be studied by standardized methods. Scientists claim that the results of these investigations are innate laws of nature, which like any field can be expressed using the lingo of arithmetic. Equipped with an understanding of the existing laws of nature, man can manage and influence the processes of life to work to his advantage. Although this has not yet been attained, the vision is still alive within science. This paper aims to present an overview of modern biotechnology in the breeding of poultry and to look at the possible side effects on both the consumer and the chicken.
Ever since the death of the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes, men have been striving to understand the human body to prolong life as they wish. Up to the time of his death in 1650, Descartes was deeply concerned with how he could prolong his own life and modern scientists have picked up this pursuit. According to scientists, life is a part of the natural world and as such, it can be studied by standardized methods. Scientists claim that the results of these investigations are innate laws of nature, which like any field can be expressed using the lingo of arithmetic. Equipped with an understanding of the existing laws of nature, man can manage and influence the processes of life to work to his advantage. Although this has not yet been attained, the vision is still alive within science. Over time, it has however emerged that Descartes and his colleagues underrated the task of understanding and calculating the processes of life. (Thompson 35)
In fact, it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that scientists were able to make authentic progress in elucidating and conveniently altering the processes of life. Since the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics, there has been an evident improvement of reproductive expertise to make selective reproduction more proficient. Towards the 21st century, cloning of embryos, transvaginal oocyte recovery, and in vitro embryo production was adopted to ensure that animals possessing excellent genetic potential produced more progeny than they would naturally have had. By looking at the current trend, it is obvious that a lot is still in the pipeline as far as animal biotechnology is concerned. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of modern biotechnology in the breeding of poultry and to look at the possible side effects on both the consumer and the chicken. (Baillie & Casey 96)
The subject of animal biotechnology cannot be complete without examining the issue of animal welfare. Even though it is currently a focus of a scientific investigation, the theory of animal welfare is hard to delineate, especially when one wants to broaden it beyond the scope of chicken health. Usually, animal health is taken to represent both bodily health and behavior and is assessed with consideration to both the chicken and its ability to cope with the environment around it. Potentially, there are diverse types of chicken wellbeing problems linked to breeding for high production effectiveness and the application of biotechnology can crop up. These problems can be linked to an assortment of factors, such as the genetic appearance, the propagation method, or alterations in transgenic chicken. (Boer & Vorstenbosch 458)
Moral concerns relating to animal health are often related to a consequent diminution of chicken wellbeing, e.g. increased egg production is likely to cause a higher incidence of coccidiosis, (Domingo 1749) which will, in turn, cause a reduction of chicken welfare. In fact, several authors have outlined in their work that the use of biotechnology has the potential of causing suffering to poultry. (Domingo 1749; Drake & Vlachos 651) One explanation for this is the perspective of the existing expertise to make chicken production more effective, and hence put upper pressure on the chicken than is seen today, thus further aggravating a situation previously considered undesirable. Presently, if pain, distress, or infection has not got in the way of production effectiveness, the condition has often been overlooked, as happens with production-related infections. This priority of output over animal wellbeing is a moral dilemma in poultry production and is not specific to the use of biotechnologies. (Pusztai)
Today, a broiler chicken has the ability to grow to a weight of close to 2kgs in less than 40 days. Thirty years ago, a broiler needed close to three months to attain this weight but this has drastically changed within that period. Due to this accelerated growth, the muscles and gut develop fast but the skeleton and cardiovascular systems do not reciprocate this fast growth. This discrepancy in growth makes the chicken have weak legs and possible heart failure. (Pusztai) Due to the large muscular development that turkeys have been bred for the male birds are now too big and therefore are unable to mount the females. This has necessitated the need for artificial insemination to reproduce. Additionally, the turkeys often suffer from acute leg malfunctions, as their weak bones cannot support their weight. Research in this field has also proved that the broilers and turkeys have reduced immune response thus increasing their susceptibility to diseases. This research also shows that the broilers and turkeys in this category have increased levels of stress and are therefore more likely to develop stress or even die at a faster rate than their relations. This is probably due to their unusual muscle composition and the unusual size of their heart. (Drake & Vlachos 651)
Perhaps to do justice to the whole issue of biotechnology on chicken, it is important to mention that its application helps in the introduction of genes that stand for disease resistance. If applied in the right manner, this has the capability of reducing suffering and serves to improve the welfare and health of the chicken. Additionally, the natural selection might help in ensuring that only chicken with desirable qualities that will give rise to enhanced egg production or even better quality of meat is allowed to breed. However, this theory has limitations since the objectives of research on disease resistance in biotechnology chicken are usually production-related diseases, which in effect might encounter higher production thus recreating the same problems but this time at an enhanced production level. Of main concern is that genes linked to disease resistance have the likelihood of possessing unanticipated consequences, which nullify the anticipated improvements. (Kuiper & Noteborn 1316).
On top of the existing concern of animal biotechnology on chicken, there has been growing concern in recent years over the effect that this has on the consumers. It is indeed worth mentioning that biotechnology foods produce varied effects on consumers. On a wide level, these foods are known to be beneficial to the human body since the eggs get from the chicken contain low levels of cholesterol, which is helpful to the body. Additionally, the level of fat content in the meat can be modified in quality and quantity to ensure that they correspond with the levels recommended by medics. Indeed, labeling the changed products to appeal to targeted consumers and make them identifiable to those who need to avoid them would be an effective way of marketing such foods. Another notable benefit of biotechnology is that it has the capability of producing equal food while utilizing fewer chickens. This potentially reduces pollution and it is, therefore, a great advantage to the environment. (O’Neil & Reese 7)
Apart from these rather apparent benefits, it is important to note that there are existing health concerns over the consumption of cloned chicken. Currently, there is limited understanding of the physiology of animal biotechnology on human beings. There have been researches linking growth hormone genes to diseases like high blood pressure, kidney failure, diabetes, and bone malfunctions. (Holland & Johnson 26) Additionally, the meat from cloned chicken has the likelihood of containing antibiotic residues, which might potentially harm people. The antibiotic residues can also develop antibiotic-resistant pathogens due to the medicine used to camouflage chicken health issues. Although the research done in this field is still wanting, there is a need for one to tread cautiously to avoid possible health complications arising from this matter. (The National Academy of Sciences)
The ability to produce enhanced and cost-effective food in a more efficient manner is frequently cited as an argument in support of modern chicken breeding and its dependence on biotechnology. This is a potential for cheaper food and improved food production in developing nations. Means to achieve this objective are however available and analysts are questioning if the use of biotechnology poses any ethical difference. It is obvious that poor countries could greatly benefit by using various biotechnologies, and this leads to the argument that these countries are more justified in using the technology than the already developed nations, which currently have a surplus of food production. However, this presumes that these technologies be made available to the poor nations for them to be able to produce their own food. Indeed, increased food production in the developed nations is unlikely to be of any help to the poor nations. There is also a rising concern that scientists might use this technique to introduce human pathogens into chicken, which is an entirely unethical issue. (Ackerman 48)
For a long time, scientists have been trying to look for ways to influence life. However, their big break can at the beginning of the 20th century after the discovery of Mendelian genetics. In debating on reproduction objectives and biotechnology, one of the chief concerns is that of animal wellbeing. However, the majority of the problems arising in connection with animal wellbeing also crop up with conservative selective reproduction. Regardless of the technique of breeding, queries arise on whether the intention of the breeding goal is important, and whether that intention can warrant certain risks. For medical research, the risks are more easily acknowledged, since in this accord the benefit might be essential to humans. In poultry production, the risks are however unacceptable especially in the case where the risks are undertaken to produce cheaper food.
There seems to be a consensus that the adoption of biotechnology should be regulated, although it is still uncertain what type of organization, and at what echelon, is best placed to execute such a regulation. It is, however, important to learn that there is existing legislation that offers some significant protection of animal wellbeing in spite of the breeding method employed. On the other hand, efforts should be made to advance, implement, and control the available legislation to cushion chicken from potential threats to their wellbeing. However, even if the threats of abridged chicken welfare were done away with, other fears and threats would still be at hand thus calling for open public appraisal. These are concerns such as the side effects of animal biotechnology for consumers and the potential risk to the chicken and the environment at large.
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