Farmer says he’s illegally selling milk from the offspring of a cloned cow

Aug 3, 2010 07:26 GMT  ·  By
The FSA is looking into a farmer’s claims that he’s been selling milk from a cloned cow, reports say
   The FSA is looking into a farmer’s claims that he’s been selling milk from a cloned cow, reports say

Many countries choose to clone animals that are considered extraordinary for one reason or another, mostly cows that produce considerable quantities of milk. However, the EU is now about to pass a law that bans meat and other by-products from cloned animals from entering the human food chain in any shape or form, because they could have side-effects that we may not even be aware of yet. Even so, a British farmer has admitted that he’s been selling clone milk illegally, the Daily Mail informs.

The British media and authorities (the FSA – Food Standards Agency) are up in a row over the claims, though whether they’re even accurate seems highly debatable. The Mail, for one, says a farmer agreed to speak the truth under the condition of anonymity: he’s been putting clone milk on store shelves without as much as labeling and even though, right now, such an action is illegal. The Sydney Morning Herald, though, says the farmer insists such a statement did not come from him and that he only admits that he has an offspring of a cloned cow, which he’s using to create more embryos that he’s selling abroad.

Even if he were to sell the milk of an offspring of a cloned cow, consumers probably shouldn’t worry, The Sun notes after talking to specialists. According to the tab, twins are also like clones of each other, yet one wouldn’t hesitate when it came to drinking the milk of either of twin cows. There is literally no danger in drinking this milk either, first and foremost because cloning takes place because the farmer chooses quality over quantity and not the other way around.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking milk from a cloned animal. I’d happily drink a glass myself. This cow’s mother was a clone, not a ‘mutant.’ Cloning produces an identical copy of another animal, with exactly the same genetic material as the original. Scientists don’t introduce any new genes or DNA or tinker with its biological blueprint. And remember that this cow is not a cloned animal itself, but the offspring of a clone. Of course, the cloning process is not totally without side effects. One potential problem is that some of the genes fail to ‘re-set’ properly. This wouldn’t affect the milk but could mean the animal may not live as long as normal,” The Sun writes after speaking to genetic expert Professor Robin Lovell-Badge.

“Farmers choose to do it [clone an animal] if they have a cow that is particularly good at producing milk. They use cloning for quality, not quantity. If this milk was from a cow whose genes had been changed, I would understand the concern. But this cow has not been genetically altered – it is a perfectly normal animal. Identical twins are clones of each other and we don’t treat them as abnormal creatures. There is no reason why we should be scared of this cow,” the same publication concludes by saying.

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