Livestock Cloning: Friend or Foe?
...one to replace all types of damaged tissue. Yet, tissue is not the only thing scientists are looking into regarding the technology of cloning. Along with organ transplantation, research is being done in the area of protein synthesis for new drugs. Albumin serum, the clear portion of blood that makes up most of the blood plasma, is integral in transport and clotting (Animal Cloning). Currently ‘transgenic dairy cows’ are being used to make the protein in the milk they produce (Animal Cloning). Transgenic cows are simply cows that are born with human DNA integrated into theirs so that they produce a protein that humans can use. The University of Wisconsin study also reveals that about 440 tons of this albumin is sold worldwide for $1.5 billion, meaning there is a huge demand for the product, and it could generate huge profits (Animal Cloning). This would be an immense help to those who need these proteins in order to live a healthy life, and cloning livestock would allow more synthesis to be done, and eventually at lower costs to the consumer. Along with the benefits of cloning livestock for medical purposes, there are benefits for cloning livestock in the traditional sense, for meat and dairy products. With the possibility of cloning, farmers could produce all high quality livestock with engineered and desirable traits, such as chickens that lay a lot of eggs or cows that produce prize amounts of milk (Animal Cloning). The first cloned dairy cow to ever be sold auctioned for $82,000, and was a clone of Mandy, the prize milk cow (Animal Cloning). In her report of the last FDA Conference on Biotechnology, Barbara Beck states that food product companies are also ready to bring cloned meat and dairy products to consumers, and the general consensus is that it would be well received by the public. Beck elaborates on this by explaining that the FDA has asked for a voluntary hold on sending cloned foods to stores because there is no official government regulation or standards that need to be met. In order to better understand the opinions of people on the proposal of cloning used on the mass market, I did a multiple choice survey of 250 York College students randomly chosen by email address. Of the 250 requests, 162 responded with their opinions on the subject. 73% of the students chose the answer, “I am open to the idea of cloning and think it holds great possibilities for the future”. 16% of the sample chose the answer, “I believe cloning is wrong, in all aspects”. The final 11% chose “I do not know enough about cloning to make this judgment. Or I do not have an opinion about cloning”. This survey shows that although only a small portion of York College students were surveyed, the most popular opinion by far was, “I am open to the idea of cloning and think it holds great possibilities for the future”. Overall, however, it could be said that most people are at the least open to the idea of cloning and how it could help our consumer society. Although there are a few setbacks with cloning, most of these can be solved easily. The largest problem with cloning populations of animals is genetic diversity. If all animals in a population has the same DNA, then inbreeding and the inherent resulting problems would take place (Cloning Ethics). However this is possible to avoid. In her essay, Kolata discusses how it is possible for a bone marrow transplant to be made through a genetic database (481). Therefore it can be reasone...