another rung on the evolutionary ladder
I know that evolution as a concept carries some political, ideological and religious baggage, but it is not the 'man descended from apes' argument that I am bringing up here.
The FDA has announced that its studies show that milk and meat from cloned animals is safe for human consumption--a very significant step towards actually allowing such products to come to the American market.
It remains to be seen what the social ramifications are, for instance, is this the next big 'stem cell' type issue? It also remains to be seen as to whether such products will be successful in the marketplace. (The issue of labeling of these goods, or conversely, the labeling of non-cloned products is still up in the air.)
My question is why? Is there a shortage of milk and meat producing animals, or has the normal reproductive chain been jepopardized by some unknown circumstance? What would the benefit of using these products be? Will they be measurably better? Cheaper? The FDA did not say as much, but it appears that the ruling found the products to be indistinguishable from products produced in the traditional manner. It has been reported that producing an animal for meat or dairy product can run as much as 7-8 times the cost of producing one the old fashioned way, so what is the advantage?
Just so I can say that I told you so, you will see a market emerge for 'natural' products, (like what we have now), at inflated prices, whereas the 'scientifically' produced goods will be no cheaper than what we are getting now.
And how is this evolutionary? We, as a species, (or possibly a subset of the species), are manipulating our own 'environments' and lifestyles in ways that force the natural environment to change. This is evident in global warming, the emergence of new and deadly bacteria and disease, the exponential increase in cancers and chronic illnesses and the list goes on. We are (apparently) inadvertantly creating a new ecosystem of sorts, one that rewards the manmade values of efficiency and profitablility over those values rewarded by the biological world, diversity and adaptability.
Chew on that for a while. With all that is happening in the world, this issue, which has the potential to eclipse all others, might just slip past unnoticed.
Stay focused.
The FDA has announced that its studies show that milk and meat from cloned animals is safe for human consumption--a very significant step towards actually allowing such products to come to the American market.
It remains to be seen what the social ramifications are, for instance, is this the next big 'stem cell' type issue? It also remains to be seen as to whether such products will be successful in the marketplace. (The issue of labeling of these goods, or conversely, the labeling of non-cloned products is still up in the air.)
My question is why? Is there a shortage of milk and meat producing animals, or has the normal reproductive chain been jepopardized by some unknown circumstance? What would the benefit of using these products be? Will they be measurably better? Cheaper? The FDA did not say as much, but it appears that the ruling found the products to be indistinguishable from products produced in the traditional manner. It has been reported that producing an animal for meat or dairy product can run as much as 7-8 times the cost of producing one the old fashioned way, so what is the advantage?
Just so I can say that I told you so, you will see a market emerge for 'natural' products, (like what we have now), at inflated prices, whereas the 'scientifically' produced goods will be no cheaper than what we are getting now.
And how is this evolutionary? We, as a species, (or possibly a subset of the species), are manipulating our own 'environments' and lifestyles in ways that force the natural environment to change. This is evident in global warming, the emergence of new and deadly bacteria and disease, the exponential increase in cancers and chronic illnesses and the list goes on. We are (apparently) inadvertantly creating a new ecosystem of sorts, one that rewards the manmade values of efficiency and profitablility over those values rewarded by the biological world, diversity and adaptability.
Chew on that for a while. With all that is happening in the world, this issue, which has the potential to eclipse all others, might just slip past unnoticed.
Stay focused.
posted by eccentric recluse at 5:38 PM
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