Brief Summary:
-
This week, we looked into how technological advances have impacted the biobusiness industry in areas such as agriculture, environmental and industrial life sciences. Though these industries differ greatly in their nature, there was one common goal that they were all striving for and that was the idea of sustainability. Quoted from Professor Gurinder in his slides, he mentioned that "When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability".
-
In the agriculture industry, constant research is being done to increase the harvest and food supply to feed the growing population of the world. This includes technology which both improves farming techniques as well as genetic modification in plants to increase their yield. For environmental life sciences, we focused on waste management, and the possibilities of using our waste as a alternative source of energy. A key aspect of industrial life sciences is that of biofuels, and how that could also contribute to being another source of energy to power the world. However we also noticed that there were hurdles to these developments. Strong protests against genetically modified food, for example have hindered its developments, and it is important to see how we balance these 2 conflicting points of views.
-
Interesting Ideas
-
An astonishing amount of food is thrown away each year. It could be due to food products meeting their expiry dates or restaurants throwing out half-eaten or unwanted food. I feel that if we could minimize wastage, this would greatly increase food supply and help in the meeting of increased demands for food. In Singapore for example, millions of kilos of food are thrown out every year. That is alot of food wasted which could have been prevented if we had followed better food practices.
-
Even though some restaurants in Singapore have already started trying to curb food wastage by imposing extra costs on buffets for customers who have a large portion of uneaten food, it does not do enough to change the mindset of people towards food wastage. In a country abundant of food, it is difficult for people to understand what extreme poverty really is. Hence, to combat this, I feel that raising public awareness and education is of upmost importance. In addition, some form of incentive or deterrence has to be set up to ensure that this becomes a lasting solution.
-
Key Takeaways:
-
Technology has enabled us to battle some of the biggest issues that mankind face, including food and energy supplies. Breakthroughs in any of these 2 areas will allow the world to take one major leap towards sustainability.
-
However, it is important to understand that while researchers and scientists have a huge role to play in our road to sustainability, we as individuals also have a massive role to play. Our every action might have a small impact on our surroundings, but when multiplied by the billions of people all over the world, the effect of the impact is greatly magnified. Hence, we should not undermine our role as a global citizen.
-
Issues for dicussion:
-
How do we choose to strike a balance between natural food and genetically modified food in the future? Do we have a 50-50? Or is it possible that we would only consume genetically modified food in the future? This is a question I feel is quite worthwhile to discuss more in-depthly.
-
Ratings:
-
I would rate the lesson as a 8/10. The lesson has provided me with new insights on the world and its attempt to attain sustainability. Many of the new technologies introduced, such as converting waste to energy, is really interesting and has left me curious as to what other new technologies are being developed at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment