FDA to approve cloned animals "safe to eat", what do you think?

[Chasym]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061228/cloning_food_061229/20061229?hub=Health

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061228/cloning_food_061228?s_name=&no_ads=

i saw this on the news about a week ago and didnt have time to post anything about it, but they say that the FDA is planning to vote cloned animals as safe to eat, they claim there is no difference in food provided by non clones and clones.

At first i thought, well i just wont eat the cloned stuff. how can we really know if its safe, there could be something there they dont see.
then right after i said that, the guy on the news said there probly wouldnt be any labels that would let you know if it was cloned or not so it would be a guess and see situation in buying that stuff.
I was vegetarian for about 6 months before i lost it one night and went back to eating meat like a pro. I honestly figured there would never be a reason for me to go back since i got so sick and tired of boca burgers because my wife would cook that...and that only most of the time because it was a fast cooked meal.
i used to love em....now my stomach turns at the thought.
But honestly im not so trusting about eating cloned animal meat, milk or whatever.
i dont feel cloning for that reason is really right.
at the same time i can see how it helps humanity.
I think this is the one thing that could make me go back to not eating meat...or just totally vegan. but thats me.

what do others think on this?

 

[Pasquale]

I dunno, I don't see what the big deal is. If eating a cow is delicious, then eating that cows identical clone would be just as delicious, no? It's not like delicious cow #2 is going to make people sick or anything, because if that were the case, there would be no approval.

The only reason I see for needing seperate labels, is people who's personal/religious beliefs are against cloning.

The more we clone, the better we will be at it, and soon I'll have a small gang of Jasons who will go to work and clean my house for me, a 'la Multiplicity, starring the lovable Michael Keaton.

 

[crookedmidget]

The challenge with cloning is, despite the name, it's not a exact duplicate on the macro scale. Mutations are an issue, and passing those mutations on pose an unknown risk.

I think that as our population swells, and existing natural recourses are put under strain, we're going to need to innovate. A good example of this type of innovation is farm raising fish. Arguably, not as good as wild fish, farm raised has lowered the price and increased the availability of fish in the world.

Honestly, I have a "wait and see" attitude. If I can get 'real' beef within my budget, that is what I'm going to buy. But if becomes too expensive, I'll have to consider cheaper alternatives. And that includes Boca Burgers (which I <3 ).

 

[Halifirien]

Meat is meat. It doesn't bother me and I don't care if my burger is coming from Bessie 2.0.

 

[Gatttsu]

I dunno, I don't see what the big deal is. If eating a cow is delicious, then eating that cows identical clone would be just as delicious, no? It's not like delicious cow #2 is going to make people sick or anything, because if that were the case, there would be no approval.

The only reason I see for needing seperate labels, is people who's personal/religious beliefs are against cloning.

I agree completely with this statement, if cow #1 is tasty and cloned, the clone must be tasty as well, but sometimes there are little slip-ups, I think I can elaborate a little on this.

We start with #1, the prime candidate:

we copy this DNA and keep it forever.

The result from this cultivated perfection:

current technology allows for a little error, and this science itsn't an exact science yet, but the result is still delicious, mission accomplished.

What happens when we screw it up?

yeah, some scientist was jacking off at the console again, the bad product and it's creator are shitcanned, and we continue making the excellent sample (see #2).

But, how do you know what you're cloning?

it's all in black and white, there was an instruction manual that came with these cows, nobody bothers to read it anymore, so we snagged it for $2 on ebay from the previous owner.

Back on topic: I'm game for cloning tasty treats as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, if people are offended by it, then start labeling the packages and never mix cloned/uncloned products.

 

[Aither]

Yea its the mutations you need to worrry about like crooked said. If the clone was a 100% carbon copy then it wouldnt be so bad cause you are infact eating the same animal. - Assuming that anamial is in a good state to be placed between bread and covered in mayo /froths.

Now the whole ethical issue of playing god and creating life for the purpose to sustain life. I personally don't really see an issue with it, dogs gotta eat if we have the tech why not eh?

Some of the bible belt would for sure disagree because they don't like to see humans creating life but w/e if they can do it safely and there are no massive side effects - I say test it in 3rd world countries, I KNOW sounds horrible but those people would probably be willing to risk eating a dolly lamb chop then eating dirt. So long as the people giving it to them let them know what exactly they are eating.

 

[Pasquale]

All this talk about delicious cows is making me crave a hamburger. Sweet hamburger... /homersimpsondrool

Gatttsu, I agree its not going to be an exact science and som cows are probably going to be considerably less delicious, but I think the more we do it, the better we'll get, and eventually all cows will be delicious. That will truly be Earth's greatest day.

p.s. I think the word 'delicious' has been used like 20 times so far this thread, and I like it.

 

[Tim Wakefield]

Y hello thar cheap ass steaks at Damon's!

 

[Strid]

Food is food, I'm no hippie!

 

[Pasquale]

Y hello thar cheap ass steaks at Damon's!

I had a roomate that used to work at a Damon's, before they closed it down w/o telling anyone. Hilarious. (No seriously, I couldn't stop laughing when i went to drop him off and the door was chained shut.)

I thought the food there was terrible.

 

[Grem]

they could cross a chicken and an octopus so it has like, 8 legs.

How neat would that be? Not for eating, never mind the eating, just watch it scurrying about.

Make it like, 4ft tall, and sell them as a transport meathod, Octoken.

 

[Pasquale]

they could cross a chicken and an octopus so it has like, 8 legs.

How neat would that be? Not for eating, never mind the eating, just watch it scurrying about.

Make it like, 4ft tall, and sell them as a transport meathod, Octoken.

That would be pretty sweet, but why stop there?

We could combine an octopus with an octopus, giving us an Octopus King, who has 16 legs. Then we take said King and combine it with your chicken, making the most delicious animal ever to hilariously walk the Earth.

 

[Grem]

That would be pretty sweet, but why stop there?

We could combine an octopus with an octopus, giving us an Octopus King, who has 16 legs. Then we take said King and combine it with your chicken, making the most delicious animal ever to hilariously walk the Earth.

Can we put a laser turret on the back?

And give it antlers!

And we could put those socks that play christmas songs on all it's legs to make the ultimate audio assault.:shok:

 

[Pasquale]

Can we put a laser turret on the back?

And give it antlers!

And we could put those socks that play christmas songs on all it's legs to make the ultimate audio assault.:shok:

Yes. No. Hell yes.

antlers on a sixteen legged chicken would just look silly.

 

[Grem]

Yes. No. Hell yes.

antlers on a sixteen legged chicken would just look silly.

proboscis? That could be neat.

 

[Pasquale]

proboscis? That could be neat.

Yeah, that'll do. Best new animal ever. I love cloning.

Another tiny problem with cloning cows would be if one of them went on a killing spree, he'd probably never get caught, what with all that matching DNA and all.

(ok, seriously done being wicked off-topic. probably.)

 

[Grem]

Yeah, that'll do. Best new animal ever. I love cloning.

Another tiny problem with cloning cows would be if one of them went on a killing spree, he'd probably never get caught, what with all that matching DNA and all.

(ok, seriously done being wicked off-topic. probably.)

All that sprung to mind was live action cow from Drawn Together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfCGDlaf1j4

Ok, back on track:


We don't know HOW cloning will effect quality of meat, if it is a mutant and has extra legs, would it still affect meat quality? Might actually turn out better. Only detrimental side effect I see is the collapse of the agricultural industry out side of Dairy purposes, and stores will stock Regular, Organic and Non-Clone foods. It's gonna be a wait-n-see thing I spose.

 

[Sneakypants]

I'd love to have the choice, but I'm sure I'll be eating clone soon enough despite what I think now that the FDA has given us their glorious approval.

 

[Uzor]

Well, the differences are really quite minimal. If you clone an animal, it becomes just that. A clone of the animal. So there's really no difference between them. No mutations etc. unless you want there to be. The only advanced animal with a completely mapped DNA is currently the dog. There's 2 ways of cloning, either by taking a live sample of DNA from an animal, or by making one of your own. But in order to do that you need to have 100% mapped the DNA of an animal.

The reason cloning humans are illegal, is because humans are considered smarter. It's a moral, ethical, and humane decision. What would a cloned person do if he found out he's cloned? Additionally, as we all know, humans can be horrible. Both adults and kids. What would they do if they found out someone is cloned rather then born?

So to be honest, I wouldn't mind eating cloned animals as they are pretty much an exact copy of another animal. To be completely honest, cloned animals would probably be safer to eat, as they'd most likely clone only the most healthy animals. It does also solve one of the greatest problems humanity will face in the future, the lack of food. As the population increases, so does the need for food and space to live. By cloning animals, food resources can be secured. But if we continue to expand and destroy the earth at the same rate we currently are, food resources will be the least of our problems.

I really do wish they'd spend less time and money at finding additional food resources, and more time/money at solving other problems. Like additional energy sources, reduced pollution, and a replacement for oil and fuel.

BTW, reading other comments in this thread. Cloning isn't really about making a manhorsepig or frogchicken, or even a duckpig. It's about making an exact copy of another animal. Gene manipulation (sp?) is about combining 2 species, or "improve" current species, like changing the genes of a plant in order to make it withstand dry seasons better, or to make it grow faster and produce more food. This can be done in several ways, by manipulationg the genes of a flower, or to do it over time. A lot of the food in the stores comes from plants and animals like this. The stores don't label the food that comes from this. Instead they label food that doesn't come from this =/

To make it short, cloned food won't be any different from normal food. What you're talking about is mutations, which isn't really cloning and can happen IRL from normal situations too. If they wanted to, they can (and have) made a glowing pig from taking pieces of the DNA from an animal that glowes (in this case a sea-living animal) and mix it with the DNA of a pig. This isn't what they're talking about in those articles though.

 

[Pasquale]

The reason cloning humans are illegal, is because humans are considered smarter. It's a moral, etical, and humane decision. What would a cloned person do if he found out he's cloned? Additionally, as we all know, humans can be horrible. Both adults and kids. What would they do if they found out someone is cloned rather then born?

This is a really good point. I honestly believe that would drive a person mad. I don't know how i'd take finding out my whole life was a lie. I assume I'd handle it like Judge Dredd did.

BTW, reading other comments in this thread. Cloning isn't really about making a manhorsepig or frogchicken, or even a duckpig. It's about making an exact copy of another animal. Gene manipulation (sp?) is about combining 2 species, or "improve" current species, like changing the genes of a plant in order to make it withstand dry seasons better, or to make it grow faster and produce more food.

I know, it was just teh jokes. But a duckpig... hmm...