ications are used in a variety of areas. It's used in waste management for creation of biodegradable materials, in agriculture for higher yields and quality, in medicine for production of advanced pharmaceuticals, cloning tissues and curing genetic diseases. However there is a down side to genetic engineering. It deals with dangerous bacteria which could escape the boundaries of a lab and possibly cause epidemics. Moreover, if a transgenic organism escapes, it could eliminate a range of species and thus disrupt natural balance. Since biotechnology is a necessity, some government guidelines were established for strict regulation of recombinant DNA experiments (Encarta 99).
             Agriculture is the largest business in the world, with assets of approximately $900 billion and about 15 million employees. Back in the 80's, there was a concern, based on population growth rates, that by the turn of the century traditional agriculture would be in a serious trouble (Hanson 68). But due to the revolutionary development of biotechnology during last couple of decades agriculture has drastically advanced. Sensational achievements were made in both plant cultivation and animal husbandry.
             The modification of plants has become one of the most important aspects in agriculture. Increased crop yields can be achieved through the increase of land, or increased yield per tract. Land is expensive and should be used efficiently, to do so - large quantities of fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and frequent irrigation may be necessary. Due to the increase in petroleum cost - prices for nitrogen fertilizers continuously rise. Herbicides and pesticides are considered to be hazardous and very costly materials. Moreover, recurrent irrigation gradually leads to serious damage of the soil due to the salt accumulation. Eventually, increased amounts of salt in the soil result in large losses of crops (Hanson 69). Biotechnology can incorporate genes that a...