Would you like fries with your clone?

In Guterl’s (2008) magazine article “Would You Like Fries with Your Clone?”, the author defends the government legislation about food products from clones. First, the author introduces the topic of allowing clone products and says that U. S. Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety claim clone food is safe for consumption. Next, he shows background of GM foods in U.S. and Europe. Americans and Europeans do not like it while Americans do not care but both want companies to label their products. In the following paragraph he briefly describes cloning and asks if it is good or safe to eat or not. Then he gives financial activity in the cloning life stock industry. He says that offspring clone cow can cost 100% more than a normal cow from the U.S. farm. In addition, he gives the opinion of U.S. farmers about cloning. U.S. farmers have agreed to adhere a voluntary prohibition to sell cloned animals like food. Again he shows his opinion about clones. His opinion is that there is not evidence of any abnormal effects using cloned products. Next, there is information about epigenetic. Most anti cloning groups want to more studies before cloned products are allowed for sell. Then in the last paragraph he wrote the problem with epigenetic effects and also that there is not an enough reason to ban the practice of these products.

Cloning animals is not the best way to replace natural animal reproduction. To clone is to duplicate an animal with a process in a laboratory. Sometimes technology does not make our lives easier, on the contrary technology makes problems to our lives. We do not know the consequences that cloned animals can have so we should not use them as we use normal animals. We should be against to cloned animals because goes against to nature, carries health problems and implies economic problems.

First, cloned animals are not natural because they do not have a natural process of reproduction. Cloned animals are against to Mother Nature. According to Bruce (1998,. “For Christian, the world around us is God’s creation, and one of its most characteristic features is variety” (para. 10). One of the characteristics of nature is that everything is variable and cloning animals does not follow it. For example, there are a huge variety of cows. Some of the things that cows have different are color, size, texture, hair and amount of milk that they produce. These differences happen in natural reproduction processes. On the other hand cloned cows will be the same as the elite cow without varieties. Also cloning animals is an action against to some religions. For example, Catholic religion is against cloning animals and humans because is not the way that God gave to reproduce animals and humans. Nature gives us everything that we need; we should not be against it.

Second, cloned animals carries with health problems, as new diseases and possible mutations. Porter (2007), writes that “This cloned animal defect predisposes the cloned animals involved to a zoonosis, disease that is spread to humans. This defect, in the cloned animals and their offspring, subjected to different environments, could mutate or spread quite rapidly” (para. 6). In Zoonosis - Symptoms and Treatment (n. d.), “A Zoonosis is simply an animal disease which can be transmitted to people. Anthrax is a zoonosis” (para. 1). Mutations can happen in the process to make cloned animals. In the article the effects of mutations (n.d.), “Mutations in these parts of the genome can substantially change the way the organism is built” (para. 7). Mutations are changes in the DNA. Mutations make differences in the animals and it can be harmful. Cloned animals can create new diseases. We should not eat cloned animals because we do not know which diseases can be develop if we eat them. We have a large amount of diseases that do not have solutions to yet. We cannot add more to the list of diseases without cure.

Third, cloning animals implies economic problems. Terry Etherton a professor of animal nutrition at Pennsylvania State University says: “The average is not likely to cloned animals. Cloning is not for standard production” (Tessler, 2008, para.3). Farmers will be economically affected by cloning animals. The laboratories that will make cloned animals are going to be the ones that gain all the money for selling animals. Farmers will be displacing by the laboratories of cloned animals. The economy of farmers will pass to the laboratories and Scientifics. Also the trade will be between consumers and big companies. This will increase the power in monopoly companies. For example, many people buy meat in the butcher shop, the money is distributed to all butchers. However, cloned animals will be selling by big companies. The money will be for the big companies and not for small business. Cloning animals have a big impact in economy issues. It will be against of the economy of farmers and in favor of the economy of monopoly companies.

Cloning animals should never be used as normal animals. Mother nature gives us all the things that we need to live and the best ones for us. We do not need to find other ways to reproduce animals if we already have a natural one. Eating cloned animals could have bad consequences in human health. Mutation and new diseases are issues that come with cloned animals. The cloning animals affect the economy. Cloning animals helps monopoly companies but dissolve the economy of farmers. All the people should know about this topic because it is a very important issue that is happening nowadays. With this information and more about cloned animals we will have a better opinion about it.

References

Bruce, D. (1998 December). Should we clone animals? Retrieved February 19,
2008, from http://www.srtp.org.uk/
Guterl, F. (2008, January). Would you like fries with your clone? Retrieved
February 15, 2008, from http://www.newsweek.com/
Porter, D. (2007, January). FDA says cloned animals for food are safe: health,
ethical and moral dilemmas. Retrieved February 19, 2008, from
http://associatedcontent.com/
Tessler, J. (2008, January). Bull market for clones: studs, not stock. Retrieved
February 19, 2008, from http://money.aol.com/
Uderstanding Evolution (n.d.). The effects of mutations. Retrieved
February 26, 2008, from http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
Zoonosis - Symptoms and Treatment (n.d.). Health care articles.info. Retrieved
February 26, 2008, from http://www.health-care-
articles.info/diseases/zoonosis.htm