In response to your peers, comment more generally about the benefits and risks of genetically engineering metabolic processes.
1.) Classmate #1 Andrew
After reading the two chapters it seems to me that Photosynthesis and cellular respiration or not totally “opposite”. They seem to more or less complimentary in a way which living things need to obtain the substances required for life. They both use the same material ( oxygen, glucose, water, and carbon dioxide) but in different ways. Living organisms obtain the oxygen they need, and plants get the carbon dioxide they need.
Cellular respiration is the process in which living things take oxygen and sugar and turn it into carbon dioxide and water and producing energy, the difference is that sunlight is not needed like it is for plants. Cellular respiration happens in the mitochondria and produces ATP. During photosynthesis, the plant takes light energy and turns it into chemical energy. Chlorophyll takes the carbon dioxide, water and turns it into oxygen and glucose.
After reading the article I would support the modification of plants to capture more carbon. Climate change is going to be a huge issue a few years from now, and we will need every advantage we can get to fight it. According to the article, it seems they are just in preliminary stages of this and its probably not something we are gonna see anytime soon. Im curious on what the effects of suddenly having all that carbon dioxide in the ground. Its gotta have some kind of effect on different ecosystems.
2.)Classmate #2 Kelly
In chapter six and seven, we learned about cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Cellular processes of respiration and photosynthesis can be considered opposite reactions. In plants, photosynthesis is the storage of chemical energy, and cellular respiration is the harvesting of that chemical energy. Photosynthesis is the producer of energy and cellular respiration is the consumer.
While both cellular respiration and photosynthesis requires gas exchanges, the processes of cellular respiration absorbs oxygen and releases carbon dioxide, while photosynthesis releases oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplast and cellular respiration occurs in the mitochondria. Photosynthesis produces food and captures energy, while cellular respiration breaks down food and releases energy.
Using the comparison of cellular respiration and photosynthesis as my foundation, I can use that information to answer the questions regarding the article Flower Power: Genetic Modification Could Amply Boost Plants’ Carbon-Capture and Bioenergy Capacity. If plants or algae could be genetically engineered to capture twice as much carbon as they do now, I don’t think I would support the release of these genetically modified organisms just based on the article. You can call me a traditionalist or old tradition, but I feel that organisms have their own process of energy conversion and carbon dioxide absorption, and that we should not genetically modify it to work faster or “better”. Though it sounds like a great idea help enhance the process of photosynthesis, I feel that it can have a negative effect on the plants or algae itself. The article did not provide me with enough information to help me decide whether or not I would support it. I would need more information than what was provided in the article to come to a final conclusion.
