Question

What is biotechnology? List any two advantages and two limitations of biotechnology.

Answer 1

The application of living organisms to obtain important products which can be used for human welfare is called biotechnology.

Advantages of biotechnology:

• Improvement of plants and animal breeds to give a high yield of their products.
  
• Pests and pathogen control in agriculture which will reduce the loss of yield in food crops.
  
• Synthesis of biocatalyst which can be used for enhancing the reactions which can be carried out in vitro or laboratory conditions.
  
• Sewage treatment or water recycling can be done with the help of transgenic microbes which have better efficiency and speed.

Limitations of biotechnology:

• Cloning may result in misuse of this technique to produce genetic monsters.
  
• Due to transgenic genes, the insects may become resistant over time and more harmful insects may be produced.
  
• There will be more production of genetically modified crops which will result in loss of biodiversity.