US shockingly obtuse to making people very uncomfortable

[mrz]

US says food from cloned animals is safe
18:04 31 October 03
NewScientist.com news service


Meat and milk derived from animal clones is likely to be safe for human consumption, says a draft report by the US Food and Drug Administration. However, a decision on whether to allow the selling of food products from cloned animals will not be made for at least another year.

“Edible products from normal, healthy clones or their progeny do not appear to pose increased food consumption risks relative to comparable products from conventional animals, concludes the draft executive summary.

The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is carrying out two reviews of cloning in cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. One is concentrating on the risk of consumption to humans, while the second focuses on the health risks of cloning to the animals themselves and their offspring.

In the first review, the FDA panel is trying to identify the “subtle hazards” to human health which might have arisen as a result of the nuclear transfer technology used to create clones. Deformed or diseased clones were excluded from their analysis, as these would not enter the human food chain.

Rare breed

Food from clones is unlikely for some time. One estimate puts the number of cloned cattle in the US at a couple of hundred, compared to 100 million normal cattle. And these clones are being used for breeding rather than for food.

"We do not want these products on the market until there has been a thoughtful, thorough and deliberate evaluation of the issues," said Stephen Sundlof, director of CVM, in the FDA Consumer magazine. "We want to make sure that the public is clearly informed and that they have had a chance to participate in the process."

A US National Academy of Sciences' report, commissioned by the FDA, reached a similar conclusion in August 2002: However, the NAS report did highlight adverse effects on animal welfare. For example, many cloned animals can have higher birthweights than normal which can cause difficulty at birth.

Also, consumer groups say the FDA has not considered society's reaction to eating foods derived from cloned animals. "They seem to be shockingly obtuse when it comes to the fact that this ... makes people very uncomfortable," Carol Tucker, of the Consumer Federation of America, told CNN.


Shaoni Bhattacharya

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994336

Lol... Doping is ook safe natuurlijk... :rolleyes:

[mrz]

FDA: Cloned Animal Meat Appears Safe
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer
October 31, 2003, 11:47 AM EST

WASHINGTON -- Meat or milk derived from healthy cloned farm animals appears safe to eat, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday in its first attempt at assessing questions about the emerging technology.

That doesn't mean Americans will be eating cloned meat any time soon, if ever.

FDA wants public reaction to its assessment before it decides if cloned farm animals will require government approval before being sold as food -- a decision expected to take another year.

The still fledgling industry -- there are at most a few hundred cloned farm animals alive -- has voluntarily agreed for the last several years not to allow any products from cloned animals into the food supply.

"We're not allowing cloned animals to enter the food chain at this point," FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford stressed Friday as the agency posted a summary of its preliminary findings on its Web site. "That decision has not been made. The moratorium remains in effect."

The agency last year asked the prestigious National Research Council to study foods made from cloned animals. The council, an independent group that advises the government on scientific issues, concluded that cloned meat and other products seem safe.

The FDA will look two issues: Are the animals themselves healthy, and are the products nutritionally indistinguishable from those produced by noncloned animals?

By its very definition, a successfully cloned animal should be no different from the original animal whose DNA was used to create it.

But the technology hasn't been perfected, meaning many attempts end in birth defects. The FDA acknowledged concern about the animals' welfare in its review: "The frequency of live normal births appears to be low, although the situation appears to be improving as the technology matures."

Still, cloning-related birth defects aren't that different from problems seen in the early days of other assisted reproduction techniques in farming, the FDA says.

When it comes to animals that are born healthy, there are some differences between the cloned and noncloned at young ages. "But as the animal matures, they become indistinguishable," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, FDA's veterinary medicine chief.

If it concludes cloned food products are safe, the FDA then must decide if cloning is just another form of assisted reproduction on the farm -- which it doesn't regulate -- or if each product will require specific approval before selling.

Although preliminary, the FDA's findings are causing consternation for some consumer advocates.

How, critics wonder, can anyone be confident of the FDA's review of such an important matter on the basis of 11 pages of vague information?

FDA's full 300-page review, containing scientific data, will be released to the public as soon as it's finished, possibly by year's end, Crawford said.

In addition, the FDA hasn't yet considered societal reaction and ethical concerns to using cloned animals for food, something the National Research Council specifically urged addressing, said Carol Tucker Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America.

Nor is it clear that the FDA has the legal authority to stop a cloner emboldened by these preliminary findings from breaking the moratorium and selling cloned products, she said.

"They seem to be shockingly obtuse when it comes to the fact that this ... makes people very uncomfortable," she said.

Consumer reaction could prove key to whether food producers want to invest in cloning technology or not. Foods that are genetically modified face trade barriers overseas despite FDA assurances that those now sold are safe. While cloning means a genetic copy, not genetic modification, public understanding of biotechnology is sketchy.

"If these products are safe, is the consumer confident in that?" asked Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America. "We're definitely examining this issue very closely."

On the Net:

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/cvm/index/cloning/CLRAES.pdf

Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/sns-ap-cloned-animals,0,4793573.story?coll=ny-health-headlines

[mrz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3229941.stm

Dit is best wel humor, gezien feit dat dit allemaal goedpraten van wat al een tijdje in melk in USA ZIT achteraf is... :rolleyes:

Dit is helemaal hilarisch:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2379105.stm

*Kuch* if you ask me is DIT op zich al de bio-terrorrism, en zit er niks anders op dan die immuunsysteempjes dan maar keihard te laten werken ofzo. :cheefbek:

[mrz]

UN derails ban on human cloning
Nuclear transfer: The nucleus of a cell is transferred into an "empty" egg
The United Nations has blocked moves to impose a global ban on research into all forms of human cloning.

The UN General Assembly's legal committee voted 80-79 in favour of an Iranian proposal to delay any decision on a ban for two years.

The move meant that members did not get the opportunity to vote on a proposal by the US and Costa Rica which would have banned human cloning.

The issue has divided the 191 member states on the committee.

Scientists dismayed

BBC science correspondent Richard Black says negotiations on human cloning started over a year ago at the UN, but were postponed for a year in the face of a fundamental division between two groups of nations.

One, headed by the US and Costa Rica, wanted to ban all kinds of human cloning.

The other, led by France and Germany, wanted to ban reproductive cloning but allow therapeutic cloning - research which could lead to a new generation of medical treatments.

However, the decision to approve the Iranian call for a delay meant that neither of the rival proposals for a ban could be put to the vote.

Correspondents say the outcome is likely to dismay mainstream scientists and ethical campaigners alike, as it leaves the door open to maverick attempts to create a human clone.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3247969.stm

Geez... Het wachten is weer op de eerste lunatic die het wel therapeutisch verantwoord vindt dat er een kloon van hem/haar ter wereld komt anders dan gewoon een afstammeling. Wat een vreselijk gore machtspelletjes zou je dan krijgen zeg. Een volwassen versie die het leven "zichzelf" erg moeilijk gaat maken haha. :rolleyes: