Cloned Meat

[Stormfury]

Animal cloning arrived in 1996 with the birth of Dolly the sheep. Cloning is the process of taking a single cell from an adult animal, inserting it into a hollowed-out egg from that species and using an electric shock to "trick" the egg into thinking it has been fertilized. If all goes well, the host mother gives birth to an exact copy ? a genetic twin ? of the adult animal.

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I'm sure most of us know about this. The Food and Drug Administration has reaffirmed the use of cloned foods. The FDA believes "that meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as the food we eat every day," quote unquote. Officials said they don't think special labels are needed, although a decision on labeling is pending. The question of whether the public would buy it is less clear.

Because of unknown health risks associated with cloning, the FDA put a voluntary moratorium on the sale of meat and milk from cloned animals in 2001.

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The FDA will issue a final ruling after the public comment period closes April 2, 2007. The ban could be lifted before the end of 2007.

-Voluntary Ban on Cloned Food Remains in Effect Pending Public Comment .

[Ciara]

... I find it scary to clone living things and then to eat it?


...

i didnt know about it actually existing <.<

[Kovu The Lion]

Originally posted by Ciara
... I find it scary to clone living things and then to eat it?


...

i didnt know about it actually existing <.<

You probably wont even know the difference, It'd probably taste even better than regular ones?

scary thought -> We could already be eating it no matter what people say xD

[Ciara]

well true maybe, but it would be like eat something that isnt naturally, like .. chemicalies, i dont know

i doubt the other thought tho really .. but if i found out something was cloned, i would stop eat it at once.

[Aurelian]

I don't really see the point. Is the world THAT short on cows, pigs, and chickens? Why bother messing with the unknown when the known is just as convenient?

Cloned or uncloned, unless the scientists are using somthing poinson within the procedure, I don't really see anything morally or physically wrong with it. It's not like the animals are being harmed anyway out of the norm. I just see it as unnessecary.

Now when they start cloning humans, I would have to protest. Humans are a bit more dependant on individuality then animals.

[Cova_Lioness]

LOL worlds full enough of people as it is...now were Cloning!?

[Ghamu]

Cloning cattle? What would be the point? I can't even imagine how that could be more cost effecient than regular breeding, and making money is usually the main goal of any business (though I suppose some like the idea of being able to deliver the "best quality food on the market" too).

Originally posted by Roquivo
Now when they start cloning humans, I would have to protest. Humans are a bit more dependant on individuality then animals.

What do you mean with individuality here? Identical twins seem to manage pretty well and they are basically "copies" of each other.

I think cloning humans to produce genetically identical people would be a waste of time and money. Cloning a liver, a pancreas or a heart on the other hand would be useful for transplantational surgery. "Spare parts" so to speak.

[Aurelian]

Originally posted by Ghamu
What do you mean with individuality here? Identical twins seem to manage pretty well and they are basically "copies" of each other.

Identical twins are not as "identical" as you think. They still have their own personaity, beliefs, likes & dislikes, ect. A clone would have the same brain pattern as you, and would have your same brain and everything, or so I gathered.

Individuality is one of the human race's greatest strengths. The fact that we look, act, think, and react differently fromeach other make the world an adventure. If we were all the same, it would be vey bland. I'll use some forum members as examples.

Roog is a good one. If he was the same as everybody else, he wouldn't have his legendary sense of humor. Or we all would, and that would be a catastrophy. Nephilim's individuality is why she is so honest and strongwilled. Nathalie's individuality gives her the ability to be a great leader by good verbal skills and reactions. People like King Simba, Sharifu, KTL, and Somby have individuality to thank for there art skills. Likewise for 2 DIE FR, LKS, Kiva, and Tiger Lily's writing skills.

See, even this forum itself would be very boring and uninteresting if we were all copies of eachother.

I'm wouldn't be thrilled about an artificial twin either, though.

[Ghamu]

Originally posted by Roquivo
Identical twins are not as "identical" as you think. They still have their own personaity, beliefs, likes & dislikes, ect. A clone would have the same brain pattern as you, and would have your same brain and everything, or so I gathered.

They are genetic copies of each other. Which is the same thing as a clone is. If someone cloned me, the person this clone grew up to be would be even less similar to me than two identical twins (assuming now that the twins grew up together).

My personality, beliefs, likes and dislikes have been shaped by the way I grew up (although they are of course predetermined to some extent). Nature and Nurture. The unique circumstances that we've found ourselves in during our lives, and the genetic baggage we carry along, make us who we are.

EDIT: And the artificial twin of yours would have to start life as a baby, too. So assuming you're cloned tomorrow, your twin brother would be 23 years younger than you are. Which would be a bit weird, I suppose.

[Kapasa]

At the moment what from what ive heard about, theres several major flaws with cloning. As Ghamu said its expensive, time consuming. If all cattle were clones of one another then if there was a nasty disease about then the chances of all of them getting seroiusly ill/dying would be much greater. Many clones are born deformed, and at the momnet many clones that make it to adulthood are unhealthy. Theres so many problems with it, but one day perhaps (along way from now) it may be much more successful.

[Only-now]

I haven't come up with an opinion on this yet...but one thing needs to be corrected. They are not cloning animals in order to produce more cattle and more meat. What I mean...is that these animals are not cloned because of a shortage of meat...they are cloned because they are the best "specimens" of cattle. So..we are not actually eating the clones themselves. The reason for this is because cloning is actually very expensive..somewhere around $20,000 per clone. So....basically they clone their best cattle..and then we eat the offspring of those cattle which has the best meat.

What I have a bit of trouble with besides it being a bit unnatural...is that if we endorse this type of cloning for use without problem...then it will make it much easier to use this as an entrance into the cloning of human beings...which I am not so much for (nor is it as safe or "simple" as cloning animals). I don't think the debate is so much about individuality (though that is part of it) but also the fact that a mentality would arise in which people automatically viewed clones as not being a person...but inferior...also, there is risk for health problems and shorter life span. To be honest though...I don't see much of a reason yet for there to be an interest in cloning a person other than just to do it. I would not have a problem with cloning body parts however...or growing them at least...so that they could be used to replace lost or misfunctioning ones etc.

About cloned meat though...I am not really sure. It is possible we have all eaten it..as it says it was a voluntary ban...not a complete one that everyone has to participate in. So it is possible some places already used it..and if we can't tell at the moment then all is well I suppose.

~Kiva

[Stormfury]

I would have no problem eating cloned products. This may be in topsy-turvy for quite some time. And reactions always terra incognita.

[SpiritWolf77]

I'd be highly concerned about disease-resistance in livestock populations and eventual genetic problems as a result of inbreeding. If they're not careful about keeping the breeding population genetically diverse, this is going to backfire horribly.

Obviously genetic diversity is a problem with regular selective breeding as well, but this introduces even less of a chance of genetic diversity.