Cloning: A Way Forward?
Two years ago (2008) the US Food and Drug Administration declared that food from cloned cattle, pigs, goats and their offspring was safe to eat. US experts have said that wide use of clones in agriculture would result in meat with consistent texture and flavour. European attitudes towards cloned livestock have on the whole been rather different and this was brought to a head a couple of months back when The European Parliament asked for a ban on the sale of foods from cloned animals and their offspring due to concerns in the EU over the safety and ethics of such new food technologies. Then, last month in the UK there was a controversial row after two cloned Scottish bulls were slaughtered and their meat sold in burgers and pies. Likewise a press report that milk from the offspring of a clone has been illegally sold in supermarkets led to furor.
Things look different in Australia however, after Dr Richard Fry, founder of Clone International and creator of Australia’s first cloned cow, has said that meat and milk products that are produced from their progeny of cloned cows will be safely eaten en-masse by Australians within two or three years. Clone International has exclusive licence to clone cattle, sheep and horses in Australia and New Zealand and Dr Fry’s company provides clients with exact matches of their ”elite” breeding stock. Currently cattle are cloned for breeding purposes, but the shift to mass produce reflects a significant shift. According to Fry, ”The data shows there is no difference between the clones, or the products of clones, and what happens naturally.”
Clearly the issue is one of hot debate. Is cloning futuristic and cool or gross and immoral. My personal belief: that cloning can yield a leaner, healthier livestock. Don’t forget though, that the world’s livestock farming is a massive producer of CO2, Nitrous Oxide and Methane, and is as damaging as the entire automotive industry. As such it must be reduced, regardless (read this article for more info)!
Below is an infographic by Christina Ullman and produced by the Genetics and Public Policy Centre. It explains the difference between research cloning and reproductive cloning and as such should make you much better informed on the topic.
Click on the image to look at it magnified.
Source: Christina Ullman
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