Is this OK?

[archenemy]

I really don't have a lot of faith in our FDA, Do you?

 

[Mr_Phil]

I don't have any faith in your cloned thread.

[counterfeitfake]

So like I said in the other thread before it got kevboned, I am wondering what makes meat or milk from a cloned animal questionable. Is there any real basis for questioning it or is it just that it seems creepy?

 

I guess I give the FDA about as much credit as most other government agencies. But my gut feeling is that the F part is more faith-worthy than the D part.

[kevbone]

The other thread was more entertaining.

[Dechristo]

there's a golden thread through evrything you touch

[JayB]

I don't have a lot of faith in the general public's ability to render informed, scientifically sound judgments about anything involving genetics, much less genetic technology that their only acquaintance with comes courtesy of sci-fi movies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[counterfeitfake]

Hey! Isn't that just a fancy way to say "people are dumb"?

[tvashtarkatena]

I'm concerned that my giant flying cat milk, cloned or not, is hormone free. Valid?

[Macson]

I think that if some people have a moral objection to eating a cloned animal, there should be adequate labeling to inform consumers whether what their buying is cloned or not. Whether it's safe or not is not the only issue.

[Macson]

I don't have a lot of faith in the scientific community's ability to render informed, ethically sound judgments about anything, much less ethical dillemas that will only be solved courtesy of FDA polititions.

[kevbone]

I think that if some people have a moral objection to eating a cloned animal, there should be adequate labeling to inform consumers whether what their buying is cloned or not. Whether it's safe or not is not the only issue.

 

Yah, what he said.

[TREETOAD]

If corporations are the ones cloning and owning then what happens when the only food you can get is cloned. Wheat for instance. Cloned wheat will not propegate so when all the seeds are gone who owns teh food. Sorry not much sense here but have been drinking at work again..

[counterfeitfake]

Cloned wheat will not propegate

 

Maybe clones can be made to be sterile but I thought that "clone" generically meant an exact genetic copy.

[JayB]

I don't have a lot of faith in the scientific community's ability to render informed, ethically sound judgments about anything, much less ethical dillemas that will only be solved courtesy of FDA polititions.

 

The FDA panel wasn't concerned the ethics of cloning, it was convened to generate factual data concerning the safety of foodstuffs produced by cloned animals. Given the time and expense associated with generating cloned animals, the odds that anyone's going to convert the clone to steaks or use it for milking are quite slim, at least for the forseeable future. Odds are the cloned animals will be used for breeding purposes.

 

I agree that if people do not want to consume products produced by cloned animals because they think it is morally wrong to clone animals, then they shouldn't have to consume them. I personally think that the burden of doing so should fall solely on their shoulders. If enough people feel the way you do, then the odds are that someone will cater to your preferences.

 

Seeing as there is no scientific basis whatsoever to object to agricultural cloning on safety grounds, I'd be interested to know what the nature of the ethical objection people have to cloning animals. Is this out of concern for the animals themselves, or because they feel uncomfortable with the use or implications of the technology?

 

[sobo]

I'd like to be able to clone myself. That way, I could leave my clone here at work to sit and do nothing except spray, and I could go out climbing. Or drinking. Or whoring. Or whatever.

 

It'd be like having my own Beta-unit!

[kevbone]

I'd like to be able to clone myself. That way, I could leave my clone here at work to sit and do nothing except spray, and I could go out climbing. Or drinking. Or whoring. Or whatever.

 

It'd be like having my own Beta-unit!

 

thems is wise words.

[archenemy]

I'd like to be able to clone myself. That way, I could leave my clone here at work to sit and do nothing except spray, and I could go out climbing. Or drinking. Or whoring. Or whatever.

 

It'd be like having my own Beta-unit!

[sobo]

We really don't know if there are any dangers associated with consuming cloned food. Just as we really don't know of dangers associated with eating genetically engineered food. We haven't really conducted any long term tests to discern this, have we?

 

Nope, we haven't. This stuff hasn't been around long enough to do that sort of study to a large degree. And there's the rub, I guess, for most people.

[Alpinfox]

People have eaten pretty much nothing BUT genetically engineered food for the last 10,000 years.

 

Genetic engineering via selective and restrictive breeding is just as much "unnatural" as DNA splicing. That said, genetic engineering of sterile crops whose growth is dependent upon specific AND PATENTED chemical fertilizers/pesticides is very worrisome. (Monsanto does this by the way). Note that this is NOT worrisome because of the "genetic boogeyman" problem, but from the standpoint of global economics and food security.

 

 

[archenemy]

We also don't know what long-term impact cloning will have on our animal stock, do we?

[Alpinfox]

We also don't know what long-term impact cloning will have on our animal stock, do we?

 

Yes we do. SpecialEd has been experimenting with sheep for decades.

 

BA-DUM-CHIIIIIING!!!!

 

 

 

 

...and again, we have been genetically engineering animals for thousands of years.

[archenemy]

And even they refuse to reproduce with him.

[sobo]

...That said, genetic engineering of sterile crops by for-profit companies (e.g. Monsanto) is very worrisome; not because of the "genetic boogeyman" problem, but from the standpoint of global economics and food security.

 

I share that worry. When all the "family-owned" farms are gone and all held by private corporations, who then decides who eats and who starves?

[Alpinfox]

 

I think that's an unreasonable fear and an oversimplification of the problem Sobo.

 

The real danger is from overdependence upon one variety of a particular crop, followed by a wave of pestilince resulting in the decimation of that entire crop. For example, if 70% of American soy, corn, and cotton was Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" variety and a mutation in a weed or other parasite made it resistant to Roundup, that weed or parasite could quickly decimate a significant portion of American agriculture. Not to mention that widespread over-application of herbicides like Roundup is extremely bad for the environment.

 

Chemical pollution of land and water systems from agricultural fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides is a MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger danger to human health and the global ecosystem than genetic engineering.

[sobo]

But think, Pax, to a not too distant future, where only The Almighty Dollar reigns, and you are a major stockholder in Monsanto/ADM/whoever. Some countries will have lots of money with which to feed their hungry; others will not. To which country will you sell your wares?

 

While I can appreciate your statements regarding the susceptibility of our nations, and the world's as a whole, agricultural products and industries, you must admit that my scenario cannot be discounted.