Artificial Selection

Artificial selection has resulted in plants that are more disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. In the blog entry answer the following question - Under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?

Artificial selection is human intervention in animal or plant reproduction to ensure that certain desirable traits are represented in successive the next offspring and future generations. Because the offspring also carry the genes for these traits, this process causes the genes for advantageous traits to become more common in populations and the genes for disadvantageous traits to become less common in populations. This process is the exact opposite of natural selection. A specific plant or animal is chosen because it has a specific trait that the breeder desires and the offspring will inherit. The plant or animal is then bred with another of its kind with a similar trait, resulting in offspring with a higher potential to display the specific trait. Artificial selection is also known as selective breeding.

Charles Darwin used the term artificial selection twice in his book, On the Origin of Species. Charles wrote about the complex and beautiful things he believes that humans can create through artificial selection (first reference) and described the reasons for differences in animal breeds in countries with different development levels (second reference). Charles Darwin never plainly defined the term artificial selection in his book. Artificial selection can have great effects on population of a species and their ability to adapt to living standards, and alter their behaviour and appearance is nothing similiar to their ancestors. I feel when we alter or create species for our own benefit, it is as if we are playing God. We’ve gotten so used to animals performing to our liking, and developing to our preferance that at this point in time to change this would be a disruption in our lifestyles.

Inbred offspring are one of the dangers of too much artificial selection. Some traits may be so rare that they only exist in 1-2 family lines. If this occurs, two members of the same line (meaning relatives) may have to be bred together in order for the trait to be expressed. In animals, this can result in genetic defects and health problems. By artificially selecting, we aren’t doing any good for most animals; they lose traits we think might be useless but in the long run mean a lot.

I think under certain circumstances artificial selection is okay, as long as it is not to the extent where the genetic changes are harmful to the development of the species. There is no need for us to stop artificial selection entirely because in some cases it is not harmful to an extreme or at all. Even though it may seem selfish of us to alter different species to behave in a manner that is convenient for us, it is for the benefit of the human race that we do these things, but also what we do must be in harmony with the environtment. So we should be able to select artifically, but only to a certain extent.

Sources:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-artificial-selection.htm

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/lines/IVAartselection.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_selection

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockapoo