Science Selective Breeding

is selective breeding necessary to provide adequate food supplies?

Ollie H

What?

Selective breeding is the process of combining two animals/ plants that both have desired traits to make an offspring that has got the desired traits. Did you wonder how so many dog breeds were made, one pair of dogs were selectively bred until they made all the wonderous breeds we have today. Think of it as combining you two most favorite items into one.

How?

Selective breeding, as we know it is a very useful and easy process to get the desired outcome the first time. When something so powerful and so great is created there are also lots of drawbacks and ways that it can drastically fail. Yes, it is used to make adequate food supplies but no it is not good for the animal that is being selectively bred. Another reason that selective breeding is not a perfect solution is the fact that it takes time and energy for the animals or plants that are involved as well as if the process does not go to plan (deformities), the wanted genes are completely lost. Meaning that any plans to break the animals/ plants together will not be possible since the genes have now been lost. With animals there is still a chance that you will be able to get the genes but if the mating did not work how intended it most likely wont produce the desired result.

Why?

Selective breeding can be helpful and harmful. In some cases, it means that an animal that started out without having a lot of meat on its body is now a fat, tender food source that everyone can enjoy. Like chickens, they started out as an animal that had not much meat but is now the much-loved, plump food that we know it as today. Alongside chicken is watermelon, starting its juicy life as a fruit with not much juice, and lots of black seeds. Fortunately, selective breeding came in and created the juicy, seedless, yummy fruit that is perfect for those hot, still days.

Process.

The process for selective is to start by choosing the desired traits you would like in an animal or plant, then you find the animals and perform a little bit of research into what their background is, breed those animals lucky enough to have the desired traits, then lastly take the offspring that have the desired traits and start a new population from them. I personally think that selective breeding is not ok because even thought the chances are very small there still can be an undesired result leading to another undesired result., such as new diseases forming or genetic mutations being highlighted. This means that the animal that has just been born could be unwell and potentially be put down.

• Negatives
• Traits and variation lost
• Increase in bad mutations
• Discomfort to animals

• Positives
• Makes the best possible result
• Increases food yield and profit
• Free, safe, easy and cheap

Selective Breeding should be used to ensure adequate food supplies as long as animals are not hurt in the process. Besides this, I am not very keen on selective breeding as it takes away all the natural variation in life.