Why Can't Anything Be Natural?

Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are more disease- resistant, and cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. In the blog entry answer the following question –under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?

As years pass and science becomes more and more complex, we, humans, tend to become greedier as well. The fact that we have the power to modify and select basically any living thing- gives us a great advantage. To start this blog off, I should explain what artificial selection is.

Artificial selection is when plants and animals are bred for desirable traits. The traits given may not necessarily allow the offspring to live a better and easier life. In addition, artificial selection does not make survival in the wild easier for the offspring.

What happened to everything being natural? It seems as though now a days we are constantly modifying living things to suite our needs. It is strange that there was once a point in time where none of this picking and choosing what we want and don’t want existed. It all comes down to what scientists discover, and how they can apply that to make life better for humans, plants and/or animals.

I personally find this blog being closely related to my last blog –which was about “designer babies.” In that previous blog, I had said that picking and choosing what features you want for your child out of selfishness is definitely wrong, but when it comes to the health of the child, then choosing your child’s gender and what not is acceptable. The same thing applies to this blog. I feel that humans should only be artificially selecting plants or animals if it prevents them or others from getting harmed.

If changing a dogs’ physical appearance, or producing horses that will run faster in races is all you want from artificial selection, then that iss wrong. Artificial selection that results in cows being able to produce more milk is an example in the blog topic- and I still feel that that it is wrong. It is understandable that people need milk, but I do not think that it needs to go to the extent where cows that can produce more milk need to be created. To me, something definitely sounds wrong with that considering it is not natural. It all comes down to greed in humans. We want more than what we have, and once we have it, we eventually end up wasting it at the end. There’s a large difference between doing what’s good for the plant or animal from doing what benefits and suits you and your needs.

Domestic offspring are probably the most who suffer from too much artificial selection. There are times when traits in animals are so rare, that they may only be inherited in simply one or two family lines. If a specific trait is wanted from the owner, but is too recessive, two members from the same family (making them related) may have to be bred with one another in order to have that desirable trait visible. When this occurs, it is likely that genetic defects and other serious problems will occur in the offspring.


In the short video of "Dog Breeding" a woman explains that artificial selection is like art. You pick and choose what paint colours you want, so by the end, you have a beautiful work of art. This woman is a Papillion Breeder and she is proud of her work and the fact that it will be held down from generation to generation. I was actually surprised that she compared creating her dog to creating a piece of art because i honestly find that very unreal. She compared picking desired traits, to picking colours of different paints. The fact that a breeder picks the traits he or she desires without thinking about the health of the animal amazes me. Some people may agree with this video, and say that artificial selection for animals is fine, while others may disagree. I am just one of the people who say that doing this to an animal is wrong -especially when it comes down to physical appearance and the wants of the human being


Some cows that are bred to produce more milk undergo serious fertility problems and increased infections.



The above picture (if you don’t know) is a Persian cat. Some are bred for extremely flat faces. Although that may be a desirable trait for some cat owners –it definitely does no justice for the cat. When a Persian cat is bred with a flat face, respiratory problems occur while in addition, they have problems eating.

Do you find something common between the cow and the Persian cat? Both animals face artificial selection due to what people want and need instead of helping the life, and suiting the needs of the actual animal facing this selection.

Clearly, animals face artificial selection, but so do plants. Many plants have selected traits due to the fact that they are less likely to survive (without them) since so much fertilizer and pesticides are used. It is predicted that soon, the species of the plant will change.

So, at the end of it all – the question is what do I personally feel about artificial selection? Honestly, when it comes down to choosing traits for only physical purposes –then I must say it is wrong. Putting an animal’s life and health at risk only for their physical appearance simply shows how selfish a human can be. I must also say animals like cows and horses that are produced to make more of something, or perform better are undergoing the procedure of artificial selection for the wrong reasons. As for plants, I do not really have a settled answer. I feel that it is wrong to have our plants constantly selected for traits, but at the same time, we need to have it that way. If we don’t, we would be consuming vegetables and fruits that consist of dangerous pesticides and fertilizers. Having the option of choosing desired traits has its pros and cons, but either way, if we continue with artificial selection, we must learn to deal with the consequences they may come with.

http://www.macroevolution.net/hybrid-plants.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-artificial-selection.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0118084/Gene/Genetic_variation/artificialselection.htm

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0007942.html

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/media/dog_breeding-lg.wmv