Friday, January 25, 2008
The future of cloning is here, and it ties into the production of food.
A farmer in Wisconsin collects a skin cell from his prize cow. He then transplants the nucleus from the skin cell to an unfertilized egg, which he implants into the uterus of a host mother cow. Nine months later, the host gives birth to a calf that is genetically identical to the original cow. When it grows up, it could find itself in the deli of your local grocery store.
Students are unsure whether cloned meat is safe, but the FDA doesn't see a problem.
After seven years of evaluating the risks involved, the Food and Drug Administration concluded Jan. 15 that meat and milk from clones of animals were as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals, an FDA press release said.
The FDA doesn’t expect a significant number of clones to enter the food supply. Instead, the sexually reproduced offspring from the clones will be the ones used for food production.
Some students, like Yonatan Gizaw, Ethiopia senior, welcome the idea of cloning animals for food production.
“I think it’s a cool scientific development,” said Gizaw. “I wouldn’t be opposed to eating it.”
Other students, like Melanie Weilert, Humbolt junior, are skeptical about the FDA’s findings.
“I probably wouldn’t consume it because I’d be concerned about the chemicals going into my body,” Weilert said.
pullquote
I probably wouldn’t consume it because I’d be concerned about the chemicals going into my body.
-Melanie Weilert, Humboldt junior
Erik Lundquist, associate professor of Developmental Neurobiology, said there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
“I think a lot of people are apprehensive because it’s a very technical process and cloning holds a very powerful connotation, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the meat,” said Lundquist. “You’re not adding chemicals, altering genes, or adding hormones.”
In fact, Lundquist even encourages the idea of cloning animals for meat. If a specific animal has all the desirable characteristics a farmer is looking for, he said that breeding the animal the traditional way would only give you half the characteristics of the original, while cloning the animal would create a genetic copy.
Jack Dekkers, professor of Animal Science at Iowa State University, agrees with Lundquist, but doesn’t expect producers to begin cloning animals for food production just yet.
“Right now it is not cost effective to clone animals specifically for food production,” Dekkers said. “The technology is still in development and I think it will be years before it becomes a cost-efficient practice.”
Students like Ryan Koerner, Andover Junior, can’t wait for the market to jump on the new trend.
“If they find the best tasting cow and clone it, then hell – I’m all for it,” said Koerner.
—Edited by Samuel Lamb
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Controversy surrounds cloned meat
That is one nasty-looking burger.
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