EU Backing Cloned Animal Products

It's bad enough having to deal with the welfare of normal farm animals, but what about the welfare of cloned animals? If they are cloned solely for the products they provide, will it be more difficult to argue for their welfare as living creatures?

From the Daily Mail...

Concerns surround the ethics of the process, the welfare of the animals and a lack of research on food safety. However, a leaked report to be discussed by the EU’s College of Commissioners today comes out in favour of food from the offspring of clones...

If this policy is adopted, European farms could be populated by cloned supersize animals used as breeding stock for cows, pigs and sheep that are reared for food.

Clones themselves can suffer a range of painful conditions, including malformed organs and gigantism. Many die in the womb or soon after birth.

Koreans Clone Glow-in-Dark Beagles

Add it to the stupid files!

I am no supporter of cloning or messing with genes. And I'm certainly no fan of making a living thing "glow-in-dark." What next? Tutti-fruity-flavored cows?

From Huffington Post....

South Korean scientists say they have engineered four beagles that glow red using cloning techniques that could help develop cures for human diseases. The four dogs, all named "Ruppy" _ a combination of the words "ruby" and "puppy" _ look like typical beagles by daylight.

But they glow red under ultraviolet light, and the dogs' nails and abdomens, which have thin skins, look red even to the naked eye.

Woman Pays $50,000 to Have Dog Cloned

Personally, I think this money would have been better spent on taking care of unwanted dogs that are already here. I realize the dog that was cloned saved her life, but these puppies are not that dog. And her dog didn't do what he did because he had the right DNA. It would have been a better tribute to that dog to help other animals (human or otherwise).

Read about it here.

Pet Cloning Firm Takes "Best Friends" Name

This is just sleazy. A company called BioArts, which will clone pets for large amounts of cash is using the name "Best Friends Again" on it's website. Coincidence? From the Best Friends Blog:

Note to Lou Hawthorne, CEO of BioArts:

Don't tell us you didn't realize there was a possible conflict of identities. You've known Best Friends for years. You even sent a team here, back in the days of your old company, to check out how we shelter dogs and cats.

And you actually requested that we give or sell you the "bits" from our spay/neuter surgeries so you could experiment with them. (We declined.)

Here is the website. On it, they ask, "what if you could best friends again?" This is such a stupid question. Animals are more then their genetic material.

We have a cat named Charlotte that is not long for this world. She's an awesome cat. She's cranky. She thinks she's better then us. And she's also very sweet. She started life as an alley cat. Her mother was the meanest cat I've ever seen. When we used to put food out, the mother cat used to smack Charlotte away from the food. And yet, when Charlotte was eating, our other soon-to-be-pet Jenny used to run-up on her two front lets (her back legs don't bend) to try to get some food. She was boney, and half crazy from starvation. Charlotte used to back away from the bowl to let Jenny eat. To our knowledge, Jenny is not related to Charlotte. And, yet, despite leading a hard life, Charlotte displayed truly altruistic behavior.

Would I clone her? I wouldn't do it if it were free. What would be the point? It might look like her, and have better teeth, but it would absolutely not be the same cat. She is the way she is, because of the way things were. Not because of her DNA.

This company is taking bids to clone a pet. I would hope that nobody takes them up on this revolting concept. Best friends again? Why not take this amount of money and donate it to the real Best Friends. Or if you don't have 100 grand lying around, I hear they'll take smaller donations.

The Debate about Cloned Animals

The debate has probably been going on for a while, but it's picked up steam with the recent FDA decision that cloned animals are safe for consumption. Experts in New Zealand and Europe have come to the same conclusion.

Here is a short Voice of America report that notes activist concerns.

But activists argue that the F.D.A. based its decision on incomplete research into possible risks. The Center for Food Safety criticized the use of studies supplied by cloning companies.

Animal rights activists point out that cloning attempts often fail. They say cloning is cruel and can lead to suffering in clones born with abnormalities.

In addition, the FDA would not require food from cloned animals to be labeled as such.

Photo by Wandering Eyes.

It's True! Cloned Products May Come to US

An earlier story we posted about the European Food Safety Agency stated that the US was expected to introduce cloned animal products onto its supermarket shelves later in the year.

I had to verify this. And here it is.

The FDA is saying it's safe, but that we still have three to five years before the product hits the stores.

The Food and Drug Administration ruled Tuesday that animal products from cloned animals is safe for consumption, yet the product will not hit store shelves for three to five years. The ruling comes a year after the FDA sought public comment as to whether the products should be available to consumers. "After reviewing additional data and the public comments in the intervening year since the release of our draft documents on cloning, we conclude that meat and milk from cattle, swine, and goat clones are as safe as food we eat every day," said Stephen Sundlof, director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.~~ The cloning industry has voluntarily said they would register cloned animals so their products could be segregated once they enter the food supply.

Their reluctance may partially stem from the statement at the bottom of this article.

Gallup Polls report more than 60 percent of Americans think it is immoral to clone animals, and the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that a similar percentage say that, despite FDA approval, they won't buy cloned milk.

Photo by Annie's Homegrown.

Canadian Pig Clones for Medical Research

There are so many reasons why I am not happy with this story about pigs being cloned at McGill University.

We started the procedure a year ago and the pigs are now developing normally," said Dr Vilceu Bordignon, director of the Large Animal Research Unit at McGill's Macdonald Campus in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.

Three litters were born Oct. 22, Nov. 6 and Nov. 12, after Bordignon and his team first collected cells from a male pig, cultured the cells in vitro and then injected them into matured female germ cells. Embryos developed in the lab were then inserted into three female pigs.

I resist the whole cloning process. I hate it. Some may say that I'm not progressive. Not true. I just have a problem with humans playing God by duplicating living things and messing with genetic codes. I believe that the pace of technology development and profit-making opportunity has far outstripped the necessary medical and bioethical debate that should be occuring. Everyone wants to make money in all sorts of ways because they can do so without considering whether they SHOULD (I know, shades of Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park in there).

Also, if you can create living beings on demand, are humans next? Will people be able to order a pretty blue-eyed girl with golden ringlets? As a peasant-brown brunette, that worries me.

Finally, look what happened to the pigles from the first batch.

The project produced 17 piglets, seven of which were euthanized and autopsied to determine any abnormalities as a result of the cloning. The remaining 10, now several weeks old, will eventually be used in biomedical research to help develop treatments for human diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"After monkeys, pigs are the best animal models to use in research because of their physiology, which is quite similar to our own," explained Bordignon.

So, almost half were killed for research and the rest will be kept alive...for research. I suspect the dead ones got off lucky.

Research on living things is research on living things. I'm opposed to it no matter if they are clones or not.

Photo by dirty bodega.