Cloned Burgers

In a few posts ago "Genetic Engineering of our Plants" I put up an article that outlined the prospect of losing the variety of genes found in wild plant species because of over breeding and genetic engineering. The idea was that by filtering out 'unwanted' traits in favor of more desirable ones, the genetic pool can get so concentrated with the same DNA that it becomes difficult to find plants that contain traits which are needed when something new happens.

Such as, oh I don't know - climate change? Plants and animals have been evolving on a planet that undergoes ice ages and major changes in climates. The species that have survived contain in them the ability to adapt to these changes so that wild animals will have young with a broad genetic possibilities, increasing the chances that they will have SOMETHING unique in them to help them survive the changes...

When humans muck up the system by breeding out the diversity, they are upping the chances that they will produce plants and animals that require a certain environment to survive. Sure, they may be SUPER plants and animals that will thrive in that environment - but what if it changes? And what happens when we have to go back to the drawing board and find wild animals and plants with diverse genes and they aren't there because we didn't let them survive.

The other problem of creating genetic mutated animals and plants is when they can't breed on their own, or if they do their offspring are mutations. The supply is then controlled not by the owners of said plants and animals who can build an independant business, but rather by the people who own the genetic map - and what happens then if they lose it or, worse, if someone decides they don't want to sell seeds this year, or if the farmer won't pay enough, or they play favorites and shut out free enterprise?

In the following article this process is being taken yet another step further - and again it's all being sold to farmers based on money... you can produce more product (they mean animals and plants) if you use genetically altered.

And of COURSE they say it won't hurt anyone to eat it - though they don't really know this... just like they didn't know that people would get sick and die from eating cows that were eating... cows. (Mad Cow Disease)

Having a large heard of identically tasting, big, meaty, easy to control animals who grow up faster and produce more milk sounds great - but if they are all clones, the diversity is completely gone. COMPLETELY.

If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say there is some underlying plan to do this so that someone can be in control of the food and thus control of the people. But I don't think people are that smart to plan ahead to take over - I think they are instead that stupid to pave the way for some evil oppertunist.

We should farm cloned animals says Dolly expert
By SEAN POULTER - More by this author
Dolly: Next it was pigs and cows


The creator of Dolly the sheep has called for farmers to take up cloning as a way of producing cheap food.

Professor Keith Campbell believes the country's farms should be populated by superstrong, super-sized offspring of clones.

The U.S. expects to be eating clone-farmed burgers, pork and bacon within two years, and supporters of the method say Europe must follow suit.

The Daily Mail revealed earlier this year how the daughter of a U.S. clone cow had been born on a British farm for the first time, making Frankenstein Farming a reality.

The intention is that the cow - Dundee Paradise - will be used to help breed Britain's future milking cow herds.

Professor Campbell said yesterday that this should be the first step to a far wider use of cloned animals to produce food from cattle, pigs, chicken and sheep.

Campaigners insist that meat and milk from cloned offspring is identical to the food in supermarkets and should not be labelled.

However, any attempt to deny families the right to decide whether they want to eat food produced in this way would be highly controversial.

One of the biggest concerns is the high number of clone-animal pregnancies that lead to abnormalities, miscarriages and stillbirths.

Even in the most successful cloning systems, twice as many piglets are born dead - around

20per cent - as with existing breeding. The clones could be created from cells taken from the ears of prized animals or even bodies going through a slaughterhouse.

Clone-offspring cows would be bigger and able to produce more milk than those from current breeding techniques.

Pigs might also be much bigger, leaner or faster growing, so making them easier and cheaper to produce.

Professor Campbell, director of animal bioscience at Nottingham University, said cloning is a useful extension of existing selective breeding, which includes artificial insemination and embryo transfer.

"It is just another technique that we can add to accelerate genetic improvements to farm animal species," he added. "Cloning allows us to multiply elite animals.

"We have achieved the ability to clone a whole variety of animals and animal species. In farm animals, we have got cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses.

"In my opinion the ability to integrate cloning into the food production line should be allowed to farmers nowadays."

He said there is 'no conceivable risk' in eating food produced from the off-spring of clones, suggesting the only barrier to the technology is public perception.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is expected to give approval for the technology, without a requirement for labelling, later this year.

Dr Simon Best, chairman of the Bioindustry Association, believes labelling is unnecessary saying: "I don't think there is a scientific reason for doing it."

He said: "There is a whole load of things that the public could want to know, but you end up with information overload.

The policy chief of the organic farming group, the Soil Association, dismissed the claims as 'propaganda'.

Peter Melchett said: "The fact that supporters of cloning are not prepared to support labelling and want to keep the whole thing secret says it all. It stinks."

The European Food Safety Authority launched an inquiry into the issue of clone farming following the Daily Mail revelations earlier this year.

But will take 18-24 months to report and there is no effectively system to police the introduction of clone farming.