Cloned Meat: Its Whats for Dinner Essay -- Biology Essays Research Pa

Cloned Meat: Its What's for Dinner "[Cloning] first involves destroying the nucleus of an egg cell from the species to be cloned. A nucleus is then removed from a cell of an animal of the same species and injected into the egg cell. The egg, with its new nucleus, develops into an animal with the same genetic makeup as the donor." (1) Sounds yummy, huh? You may soon be dining on Grade A, prime cut cloned beef. Or pork. Or chicken for that matter. Is the thought alone enough to make you want to become vegan? The Food and Drug Administration has issued preliminary statements about the sale of cloned meat and dairy products becoming a reality. These statements are based on a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences. "Eating meat or drinking milk from cloned animals is probably safe, experts from the National Academies of Science concluded after reviewing what little research exists on the topic." (2) But is there truly enough research on this topic to draw conclusions that could affect millions of people's health? Will we even know if we are eating cloned meat or products? And will this cloned meat be used in a way beneficial for society, or simply for a money making purpose? Obviously, the FDA's main concern with the proposed consumption and sales of cloned meat and dairy products is how it will affect the people eating it. A possible negative effect the cloned products could have is allergenic consequences. A committee from the Academies has stated that the likelihood of these products having and allergenic effect is low.(2) Yet the committee also has cautionary words about the validity of their statements, claiming that the only way to actually find out the reactions to the products is to run multiple tests ... ...r of the Center for Food Safety. "I think overwhelmingly consumers would want that information and I think there's reason to give it to them." (7) Mendelson also added that many Americans do not even know that they are currently eating genetically modified foods. The use of cloned animals in the production of a greater quantity and quality of meat could be beneficial to society in so many ways. All food prices could go down so that low-income families could afford milk and meat. Meat could be produced to be shipped to third world countries, or those in war. Dying herds of animals in Africa and the jungles of South America could be jumped started. However, based on the price of the cloning process, and the payback that many farmers who endorse this process are expecting, more than likely meat from cloned animals will become some sort of weird, expensive delicacy.