Anthony Andujar Jr
4/12/14
Eng101
Professor J.C. Smith
Society shouldn't clone animals
In recent years the FDA(Food and Drug Administration) have been responsible for approving and distributing foods that have been Labelled and approved for all safety purposes Yet, despite the FDA's hand in what can and cannot be distributed to the public, there have been dissatisfaction with what the FDA deems "healthy" for the public to enable. Examples of societal concern have been addressed in recent years with topics such as GMO's( Genetically Modified Organisms) in foods, as well as other ingredients that aren't healthy nor safe for people to buy and eat. Despite GMO's there is one topic that continues to be a controversial and that issue is Cloning. Cloning used to be a plot device for fictional storytelling, along side other plot elements such as alternate realties and mech armored suits. But what was once science fiction has now become reality and Cloning is that living proof realized. But what is cloning? Cloning means, an organism or person that is an exact genetic copy of the original organism that it came from. The idea as well as the use of cloning is a conflicting topic that raises ethical conflict. Which is why society shouldn't clone animals. The reason being because there are potential risks that could develop into a wide epidemic. Numerous studies have gone into detail about the complications and the results of cloning animals when it comes to producing food for corporate factory farms at a large pace. If society continues to exercise these very actions, then the number of health risks will soar more than what society could ever imagine. Society shouldn't clone animals, because it could also lead to more ethical problems amongst society. Especially when it concerns human beings and the possible push to go into human cloning. Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation , He goes into detail about factory farms, and how they do damage to not just the animals, but also to the environment due to the amount of waste that is left behind along with the cruel treatment that are inflicted to the cattle's. This is an example of a ripple effect that would start as an isolated event, which would then snowball into a more global event. Much like factory farming itself, Cloning, is just that. It's a genetic test tube farm that can be tampered and augmented with which could allow for numerous unnatural things that could be injected into the very foods that society would eat. The craziest thing is that society would never really know that they ate cloned food since the FDA doesn't think anything of it. That is a scary thing considering how much is tampered with the very food that society eats and even the European Union are still holding off on labeling cloned meat. It is a potential threat that to some would seem minor in the present, but can become major threat in the future as a health scare. There are articles such as some that mention Dolly the cloned sheep a point of reference as a perfect clone, yet despite this, there have been numerous cloned animals that died multiple times in birth, or would die after a few weeks of age. Some of the symptoms that would lead to death as explained in articles such as University of Utah's 2014 article "what are the risks of cloning". In that article, they mention that’s the risks of animal cloning and causes of death are due to: abnormal brain/kidney development, and weak immune system. End animal cloning.org expands on the side effects mentioning that animals cloned are also born with enlarged limbs , along with other deformities. These are signs that show the possible health risks that it can pose on humans.Although there hasn't been any research studies to definitely prove that some one has been stricken with an illness due to eating cloned food, It's still risky business when one day it could happen. Most animals are already in a state of torture as it is due to factory farms experimenting with whatever ways to produce cattle faster and slaughter them quicker for a larger profit. And since the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) seems to lack its focus on the matter, Who's to say that whatever side effects that are affecting these animals, won't happen to a consumer who buys cloned meat, without any knowledge that the very food that they bought was cloned, and the potential side effects that could follow suit, leading to largely possible health epidemics. attention since it could cause possible diseases if not checked and dealt with. . It also harms the very animals that bare the clones and causes side effects to the carrier as well as the child that is to be born. The side effects of cloned animals that lead to their death such as deformities, abnormal growth in limbs, immune system failure, are enough risk factors among potential risk factors that could develop ahead of time. All these things could harm society and put every one in danger of potentially new diseases if left unchecked.
4/12/14
Eng101
Professor J.C. Smith
Society shouldn't clone animals
In recent years the FDA(Food and Drug Administration) have been responsible for approving and distributing foods that have been Labelled and approved for all safety purposes Yet, despite the FDA's hand in what can and cannot be distributed to the public, there have been dissatisfaction with what the FDA deems "healthy" for the public to enable. Examples of societal concern have been addressed in recent years with topics such as GMO's( Genetically Modified Organisms) in foods, as well as other ingredients that aren't healthy nor safe for people to buy and eat. Despite GMO's there is one topic that continues to be a controversial and that issue is Cloning. Cloning used to be a plot device for fictional storytelling, along side other plot elements such as alternate realties and mech armored suits. But what was once science fiction has now become reality and Cloning is that living proof realized. But what is cloning? Cloning means, an organism or person that is an exact genetic copy of the original organism that it came from. The idea as well as the use of cloning is a conflicting topic that raises ethical conflict. Which is why society shouldn't clone animals. The reason being because there are potential risks that could develop into a wide epidemic. Numerous studies have gone into detail about the complications and the results of cloning animals when it comes to producing food for corporate factory farms at a large pace. If society continues to exercise these very actions, then the number of health risks will soar more than what society could ever imagine. Society shouldn't clone animals, because it could also lead to more ethical problems amongst society. Especially when it concerns human beings and the possible push to go into human cloning. Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation , He goes into detail about factory farms, and how they do damage to not just the animals, but also to the environment due to the amount of waste that is left behind along with the cruel treatment that are inflicted to the cattle's. This is an example of a ripple effect that would start as an isolated event, which would then snowball into a more global event. Much like factory farming itself, Cloning, is just that. It's a genetic test tube farm that can be tampered and augmented with which could allow for numerous unnatural things that could be injected into the very foods that society would eat. The craziest thing is that society would never really know that they ate cloned food since the FDA doesn't think anything of it. That is a scary thing considering how much is tampered with the very food that society eats and even the European Union are still holding off on labeling cloned meat. It is a potential threat that to some would seem minor in the present, but can become major threat in the future as a health scare. There are articles such as some that mention Dolly the cloned sheep a point of reference as a perfect clone, yet despite this, there have been numerous cloned animals that died multiple times in birth, or would die after a few weeks of age. Some of the symptoms that would lead to death as explained in articles such as University of Utah's 2014 article "what are the risks of cloning". In that article, they mention that’s the risks of animal cloning and causes of death are due to: abnormal brain/kidney development, and weak immune system. End animal cloning.org expands on the side effects mentioning that animals cloned are also born with enlarged limbs , along with other deformities. These are signs that show the possible health risks that it can pose on humans.Although there hasn't been any research studies to definitely prove that some one has been stricken with an illness due to eating cloned food, It's still risky business when one day it could happen. Most animals are already in a state of torture as it is due to factory farms experimenting with whatever ways to produce cattle faster and slaughter them quicker for a larger profit. And since the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) seems to lack its focus on the matter, Who's to say that whatever side effects that are affecting these animals, won't happen to a consumer who buys cloned meat, without any knowledge that the very food that they bought was cloned, and the potential side effects that could follow suit, leading to largely possible health epidemics. attention since it could cause possible diseases if not checked and dealt with. . It also harms the very animals that bare the clones and causes side effects to the carrier as well as the child that is to be born. The side effects of cloned animals that lead to their death such as deformities, abnormal growth in limbs, immune system failure, are enough risk factors among potential risk factors that could develop ahead of time. All these things could harm society and put every one in danger of potentially new diseases if left unchecked.
Within
the F.D.A's Animal and Veterinary section , there is a sub section that
details in Animal cloning. Any visitor can check on the "What is the
F.D.A doing?" section and click on Risk Assessment. Once there ,click on
'Chapter 3: Developing the Risk Assessment methodology "chapters
with in the page to see what steps the F.D.A are taking when tackling
the issues of cloning. As read on in the following chapters, the F.D.A
mentions that food labels are not required to state if the meat consumed
are cloned or not. There are details about how approach the cloning
risks baed
on a case to case study. The reason for that is because each case of
cloning varies, due to each clone's varied DNA constantly changing due
to being transgenic. Here is a little excerpt from section D. Transgenic
Animal Clones: "Organisms
derived from transgenic cells will have risks specific to the inserted
construct, its insertion site, and its subsequent expression. Although
it is entirely possible for transgenic clones (or any transgenic
organism) to be produced safely and to be a safe source of edible
products, the risks associated with each animal must be determined
separately on a case-by-case basis, because of the added genetic
material." The
possibilities of added genetic material being a threat are likely to
be. One can assume what happens when this kind of genetic material are
in the meat and distributed to the masses through Fast Food. It would be
a scary thing to actually have a potential epidemic happen all because
of consummation of non labeled, cloned food. With Factory Farms pushing
for an already immediate food production, cloning seems to be a great
deal. But considering how they are able to obtain a healthy group of
cattle, sounds hard to believe. In order to have healthy, fit, food,
they would need to have animals that are treated with care from services
such as prairie farms. Factory farms are growing more and more every
day, finding ways to produce meat products faster and faster. this would
be difficult for natural farmers because factory farms are inhabiting
more. This makes it difficult for farmers to even have a chance at
making a living with in the market. It takes jobs away, which is part of
the ripple effect that Cloning causes. Since
there are already cruel working conditions, a cloned animal could have a
disease that could prove immune to any anti virus's provided by how
much anti biotic material was consumed. Imagine, a meta virus/ disease
that a dead clone may have with in it's body. One of the factory workers
could be trudging through the blood or being covered in them. After
working the hours, the factory workers would possibly go home to family,
friends, etc. And not know that they in hailed a possible disease. With
out any knowledge of it, the disease that the workers unknowingly
carried could spread to their family members and community. This would
create a domino effect that would attack bio diversity as a whole. All
of this could occur all due to The Non labeling of GMO's and Cloned
foods. If the cloned foods, GMO's and other foods are not labeled, it
would make it very difficult to pin point the origin of where the
possible epidemic started. Which is why cloning animals is a major
issue, because the FDA doesn't seem to consider the possible
consequences that could come of this. The
F.D.A tends to have a history of stopping epidemics and crimes in the
past. But most of the time, it's never an immediate result. Example: in a
Wall Street journal article by Jared A.Favule, the author details how
majority of the time, it takes the FDA at least 4 to 5 years to debar
doctors who commit crimes. Sometimes it would take 11 years or longer.
Now imagine how long it would take for the F.D.A to try and contain an
epidemic that would grow right Beneath their noses, due to allowing
cloned foods (that are not labelled) on to the market. These questions
and theories are just examples. But they are the kind of Examples that should scare any consumer into thinking twice about the food they purchase. Recently on may 24th, 2014, there was a Protest called "the March on Monsanto"( which was located in Union Square: Manhattan, NY)
which was about Monsanto not wanting to label food that contained
GMO's. These protestors spoke out about making the GMO foods , labelled.
Because people should know what they are eating. California
managed to accomplish this feat when they did the same about cloned
food labels. They passed a bill requiring for cloned meat to be labeled
into their food as confirmed by consumers union.org. The fact that FDA allows for food with out labels to be distributed is criminal, cloned or not. Back
in 2007, South Korean geneticists were tinkering with the genetics of a
cat, and used a virus to enable the cat the ability, to glow in the
dark. When scientist were asked the reason for the experiment, they
said: "the ability to engineer animals.. will enable them to
artificially create animals with human genetic diseases." Following with
a Today NBC report by Natalie Morales who reported (back on December 14th, 2007) that the Scientists were doing these studies to understand human genetic diseases. A 2014 BBC article by David Shukman , reported that China's
Genetics company BGI, is Cloning animals on an industrial scale. Cloned
pigs are used as test dummies for new medicines. "Hand made" cloning
and other forms, are attempts to push for a cloning factory as reported
by Shukman. When Shukman interviewed BGI's Chief executive Wang Jun about animals , Jun responded with: " If it looks cute ..you should sequence it..its
like digitalizing all the wonderful species" and responded to ethical
questions with " We're following nature, there are people dying from
world hunger and protein supply. So we have to think about ways of
dealing with that."
When looking into this issue, one must wonder how it could affect
bio-diversity and cause potential harm. What used to be science fiction
has now become a reality.Whether it is Huxley's Brave New World, Marvel Comic's: Mister Sinister /X-23/X-men stories, Spider-man: The Clone Saga, DC's Superboy, The Star Wars films, Orphan Black(tv series), Anime/Manga etc, there is a common reflection about the direction that society could head towards based on the various medias and their views based on the topic.
Despite the great things animal cloning, Animal Cloning is wrong. The
idea that there could be possible meta pathogens that could cause more
harm and be resistant to all sorts of anti virus medications is
something that should be looked into. there is not a lot of research
that has been reported about possible meta-pathogens due to cloning,
should be looked into in case of possible horrors that could exist. With
that said, as much as it can help society, animal cloning/ cloning
could harm humanity and all of bio-diversity as a whole If left
unsupervised.
References: "Animal Welfare : End Animal Cloning." Animal Welfare : End Animal Cloning. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. <http://www.endanimalcloning.org/animalwelfare.shtml>.
"Consumer groups challenge veto of cloned food bill." Consumers Union Consumer groups challenge veto of cloned food bill Comments.
Consumers Union.org, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
<http://consumersunion.org/news/consumer-groups-challenge-veto-of-cloned-food-bill/>.
"Factsheet on Animal Cloning : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS.
HumaneSociety.org, 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 13 May 2014.
<http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/cloning/qa/questions_answers.html>.
Layton, Julia, and Cristen Conger. "How do I know if I\u0027m eating cloned meat?." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 5 Jan. 2007. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/cloned-meat1.htm>.
"Safety & Health - Food and Drug Administration." . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/default.htm>.
Sample, Ian. "Britain's first cloned dog is born – and described as 'ridiculous waste of money'." The Guardian.
Guardian News and Media, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 May 2014.
<http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/09/britains-first-cloned-dog-born>.
Shukman, David. "China cloning on 'industrial scale'." BBC News. BBC, 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 May 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25576718>.
Waterfield, Bruno. "Meat from cloned animals need not be labelled, EC says." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10525282/Meat-from-cloned-animals-need-not-be-labelled-EC-says.html>.
"What are the Risks of Cloning?." What are the Risks of Cloning?. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. <http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cloning/cloningrisks/>.
