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Chapter 13 Designing the World through Engineering
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Biotechnology and Agricultural
Technologies
Biotechnology and agricultural technologies
are fields concerned with the use and application of fi
living organisms to meet humans’ needs and wants.
Agriculture is the growing of plants and animals
to be used for food or other technological products.
Biotechnology is the application of living organ-
isms, in whole or in part, to create technology. See
Figure 13-20. Both of these fi elds have existed for fi
thousands of years and make it possible for humans
to produce and use living organisms to better
their lives.
The engineering design of biotechnology and
agricultural technologies requires knowledge of
ecosystems. Ecosystems are interconnected groups
of organisms living together and interacting with
their environment. In addition, engineers in this
fi eld must understand how living organisms func- fi
tion, the use of fertilizations and plant control
mechanisms, and methods for analyzing the effect
intervention may have on humans.
In comparison to other areas of technology,
engineers designing biotechnology and agricultural
technologies spend a significant amount of time fi fi
researching and testing new technologies prior to
development. Every contribution that these engineers
make has a significant effect on humans and the envi- fi fi
ronment. Many new technologies in this area raise
social and ethical concerns. Thus, it is important for
individuals to be informed about how these technolo-
gies are created and the trade-offs that come with them.
One of the greatest engineering challenges is to
design solutions for feeding world hunger. Biolog-
ical and chemical engineering degrees provide the
background necessary to design solutions. Geneti-
cally modifi organisms (GMO) were developed to fied
increase food surplus, allow food to last longer, and
increase the size of crops. However, engineers are
challenged to address safety questions regarding
potential negative impacts of growing and consump-
tion of GMO foods on health and ecosystems.
Mopic/Shutterstock.com
Figure 13-19. Each person’s DNA is unique to them and
may influence their susceptibility to certain diseases.
Wayhomestudio/Shutterstock.com HUANGSHENG ZU/Shutterstock.com
Figure 13-20. Biotechnology is the application of living organisms, in whole or in part, to create technology.