BY EMEKA MAMAH

A Professor of Biotechnology, James Ogbonna has said “the future of man on earth depends to a great extent on Biotechnology because it potentially has solutions to all our problems,’’ including creating “human spare parts’’. Ogbonna spoke while delivering the 61 annual lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, yesterday.

He also said Biotechnology has been helping to ensure increase in crop and farm animal productivity as it has the potential of causing the production of enough food to feed the world.

He said although the ‘’use of human embryonic stem cell is controversial but adult stem cells are now isolated from the brain, intestine, hair, skin, pancreas, bone marrow, fat, teeth, muscle and blood,’’ pointing out that ‘’these adult stem cells are used to produce vital organs and less controversial.

His words: ‘’Can we now imagine a world with sufficient quality food for all, where there is no energy scarcity; with very clean and safe environment and ready cure for all diseases threatening human existence now?

‘’A world where human beings can decide to design and “produce” the type of human he needs on earth? A world where man will be living for 150 years or even longer?

‘’Biotechnology is saying that it is possible and has demonstrated some of these.

“It is now possible to produce crops that are resistant to various diseases and pests; that can mature much faster and produce higher yields even on poor soils; crops that are more nutritious with much longer shelf-life, bio-fortified food crops, diet food stuff for diabetic patients and people that require special diets, edible vaccines from plant sources; farm animals that grow faster, produce better quality meat, cow and other animals that produce large quantities of good quality milk, birds that lay more than two eggs every day, sheep that produce more and better quality wool.
‘’The application of Biotechnology has already led to several-folds yield increases in many plant species.

‘’Some of these crops/plant products have been commercialized, others are being tested in experimental farms while others are at various stages of development. It has been applied to crops like potato, rose, cotton, corn, tomato, rape seed, rice, wheat, barley, yam and tobacco.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/07/biotech-can-create-human-spare-parts-%E2%80%94-don/

Ibo man and this human eating syndrome.

I know you will never miss this thread.
Though not new but Big ups to UNN.

More than meets the eye.

Ethics, 100% mapping of whole human genome mapping and host of other factors are to be considered.

ETHICS,the most important!

Wait a sec, I've not paid any attention to biotech news lately, but I'm sure that if the tech existed to create new organs/body parts, I'd have heard of it.

Or am I missing something? Maybe he means that in the future, it may be possible. But to my knowledge it isn't possible yet.