Well, before we jump to conclusions and judgments, we should first study and understand the term Artificial Selection. It is the Human intervention in animal or plant reproduction to ensure that certain desirable traits are represented in successive also known as Selective breeding.
So, the issue here is do humans have the right to do this in the first place? Let's observe, take in our ever growing hunger for meat products. For farmers, in order for them to make some income, they need to satisfy their consumer's demand for such products, and in this case, meat. But how are they to do so when in some cases, these chickens don't produce as much as we'd like them to? That's when artificial selection comes in! This specif process is used to help sustain the overall existence of animals to make them stronger as well cause them to produce the needed products that society demands.A great example is the selective breeding of cows, the cow above has gone through selective breeding and as a result has more muscle than a regular cow, and for us- more lean meat!
There's one thing about satisfying consumer demands, but there's another pushing the limits. There have been recent reports of the inhumane ways of artificial selection. For example, because meat is such a great demand they have enhanced chickens to be more convenient by adding more meat and no feathers. This change in features of the chicken can result to more harm than good for the animal because they are prone to more diseases and parasites without their feathers as well as mate unsuccessfully because of the disabled wing.If we take both factors in consideration, we can conclude that artificial selection is a process that can really affect the breeder and the organism being bred. I think that artificial selection has done us all good, but the food and farming industries should be more wary about the treatment of the animals and plants under this process. If used with consideration, I think that this process is a win-win situation for both humans and the species involved. It satisfies the need of society of and at the end of the day, it positively effects both the peoples and the animals involved in the process- when used moderately. Though we may have the power to do this, I still believe that we shouldn't take advantage of it by completely disregarding the well-being of the animals and plants that undergo the process.
References:
http://www.biology-online.org/2/12_selective_breeding.htm
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Selective_breeding
http://scienceray.com/biology/selective-breeding/
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0118084/Gene/Genetic_variation/artificialselection.htm
Commented on:
Tammy Nguyen - http://tammy-bioblogtingz.blogspot.com/
Aarany R - http://bio-aarany.blogspot.com/
