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January 17, 2008
Would You Eat Cloned Beef?
It sounds like the plot of a Charlton Heston film from the 70's, but the possibility of meat from cloned livestock has become a reality.
The FDA just released an extensive risk assessment whose aim is "determining whether cloning poses any health risks to the animals involved in the cloning process, and whether any hazards arise during the development of clones or their progeny that may pose food consumption risks" (you can check out the whole PDF file through the LA Times website here). The LA Times also does a good job explaining the technology of the cloning process:
Scientists frequently point out that clones are not genetic mutants but identical twins of naturally produced animals -- just born at a different time.I have no problem with the actual science of cloning, and I'm not particularly disturbed by hysterical forecasts that eating cloned meat will turn our babies into one-eyed monsters. If this is a technological advancement that will truly stabilize the quality of our meat supply, well then, great. But why are research dollars being spent on cloning technology instead of on ways to improve the health and quality of life for the livestock we've already got? I have a feeling that cloned beef is just another tool in the arsenal of the meat industry, a "better-faster-more!!!" approach to food production that focuses on efficiency and profit for large corporations, rather than the health and well-being of animals, farmers, and consumers.To make a clone, scientists remove the DNA from the nucleus of a normal egg and replace it with DNA from a prized animal. A tiny electric shock induces the egg to grow into a copy of the original animal. No new genes are introduced or modified in the process.
- We recommend checking out The Ethicurean's coverage for more balanced viewpoints on the announcement.
- More information from the FDA can be found here.
- And if you just can't get enough news about advances in cloning technology, well you're in luck, because scientists in San Diego just announced that they have produced embryos that are clones of two men.
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i smoke cloned weed, i dont see why i wouldnt smoke cloned beef.
did you just say what I think you said?
My biggest problem is that labeling isn't required. According to the story I read, the FDA may allow non-cloned animals as being labeled as such. I suspect cloning will be used to extend patents to meat, much as it's being done with some seeds. In any case, this paragraph about epigenetic changes in some clones particularly jumped out at me:
In the end, facing the reality that epigenetics have never been a factor in assessing the wholesomeness of food, agency scientists decided to use the same simple but effective standard used by farmers since the dawn of agriculture: If a farm animal appears in all respects to be healthy, then presume that food from that animal is safe to eat.
So, the FDS is with Andrew Zimmern: If it looks good, eat it!
Re: scientists in San Diego just announced that they have produced embryos that are clones of two men.
Ever see "The Boys From Brazil"?............
I am less concerned about human cloning - it would be expensive, rare and creepy. But the cattle industry are the ones who brought us mad cow. I don't trust that for the sake of a buck we wouldn't end up with lack of variety of the species.
If they inbreed cattle from the same small pool of cloned donors, you will have one-eyed cows, or at least hemophiliac cows without any in the species that are naturally resistant to some random disease.
well i don't eat beef, but if i did, i would NOT want to be eating cloned beef. to me, it's just wrong and i would venture to guess some years down the line, scientists will discover it was bad for people to consume after all.
hell to the no.
It's just meat - my digestive system is going to break it down into the same nutrients and molecules, isn't it? Why not.
Anyone who looks at cows, chickens or other farm animals and can't see that we've been playing with their genetics for thousands of years is missing the point. We're now more capable of controlling and being smart about what our species has been doing in an uncontrolled and thoughtless way since the dawn of agriculture.
Yeah, cause the FDA and the beef people have never messed up. Except for those people that got mad cow...Can we just let the animals eat grass and leave the food alone?
This is a bad idea