In 1973, Dr. Stanley Cohen and Dr. Herbert Boyer made the first successful gene transfer. The technology had also contributed a lot to the development if transgenic species. For example, gel electrophoresis is a technique used to separate biochemical molecules, including proteins or fragments of DNA; blotting is a technique for isolating and identifying individual DNA molecules; restriction enzymes and ligases are naturally occurring enzymes used to cut and manipulate pieces of DNA.
Benefits are what transgenic species for. For example, cotton with an inserted Bt gene against pests like Helicoverpa caterpillars, can help the cotton farmers to reduce their use of synthetic pesticides by 50 per cent. Frost damage is huge on crops, the damage is caused by the formation of ice crystals inside cells, which causes structural damage and renders the plant tissue soft when it thaws, the strawberries with genes of ice minus bacteria is tolerance to frost, which reduces the loss of frost damage. Transgenic salt-tolerant plants are being produced, by incorporating a gene from yeast that survives in salty environments, which can reduce the loss of high salinity soil conditions. Apart from reducing the loss, GE is also use on medicine, scientist can now locate and study the genes that cause genetic diseases, or those making some individuals prone to cardiovascular disease, degenerative brain disorders. Research being done on potatoes show that genes can be put successfully into potato plants that will make vaccines against cholera, diarrhea and hepatitis B.
The long term impact of transgenic species is what we should care about, it can eventually destroy our natural environment. Firstly, there is the risk of transgene spread, for example, transgenes had spread to traditional maize varieties grown in Mexico, the crops were damaged and contained transgenes.