Sunday, September 14, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Cloned items in food supply?
Meat, Milk From Cloned Animals’ Progeny May Have Entered Food In US
Washington: Food and milk from the offspring of cloned animals may have entered the US food supply, the US government said on Tuesday, but its impossible to know because there is no difference between cloned and conventional products.
The US Food and Drug Administration said in January meat and milk from cloned cattle, swine and goats and their offspring were as safe as products from traditional animals. Before then, farmers and ranchers had followed a voluntary moratorium on the sale of clones and their offspring.
While the FDA evaluated the safety of food from clones and their offspring, the agriculture department was in charge of managing the transition of these animals into the food supply.
“It is theoretically possible” offspring from clones are in the food supply, said Siobhan De-Lancey, an FDA spokeswoman.
There are an estimated 600 cloned animals in the US. Proponents say that cloning is a way to create more disease-resistant animals that produce more milk and better meat.
The cloning industry and the FDA say cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as their traditional counterparts.
Critics contend not enough is known about the technology to ensure it is safe, and say the FDA needs to address concerns over animal cruelty and ethical issues. “It worries me that this technology is out of control in so many ways,” said Charles Margulis, a spokesman with the Center for Environmental Health.
FDA and USDA said it is impossible to differentiate between cloned animals, their offspring and conventionally bred animals, making it difficult to know if offspring are in the food supply.
“But they would be a very limited number because of the very few number of clones that are out there and relatively few of those clones are at an age where they would be parenting,” said Bruce Knight, USDA’s undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.
Major food companies including Tyson Foods Inc, the largest US meat company, and Smithfield Foods Inc have said that they would avoid using cloned animals because of safety concerns. REUTERS
Washington: Food and milk from the offspring of cloned animals may have entered the US food supply, the US government said on Tuesday, but its impossible to know because there is no difference between cloned and conventional products.
The US Food and Drug Administration said in January meat and milk from cloned cattle, swine and goats and their offspring were as safe as products from traditional animals. Before then, farmers and ranchers had followed a voluntary moratorium on the sale of clones and their offspring.
While the FDA evaluated the safety of food from clones and their offspring, the agriculture department was in charge of managing the transition of these animals into the food supply.
“It is theoretically possible” offspring from clones are in the food supply, said Siobhan De-Lancey, an FDA spokeswoman.
There are an estimated 600 cloned animals in the US. Proponents say that cloning is a way to create more disease-resistant animals that produce more milk and better meat.
The cloning industry and the FDA say cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as their traditional counterparts.
Critics contend not enough is known about the technology to ensure it is safe, and say the FDA needs to address concerns over animal cruelty and ethical issues. “It worries me that this technology is out of control in so many ways,” said Charles Margulis, a spokesman with the Center for Environmental Health.
FDA and USDA said it is impossible to differentiate between cloned animals, their offspring and conventionally bred animals, making it difficult to know if offspring are in the food supply.
“But they would be a very limited number because of the very few number of clones that are out there and relatively few of those clones are at an age where they would be parenting,” said Bruce Knight, USDA’s undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.
Major food companies including Tyson Foods Inc, the largest US meat company, and Smithfield Foods Inc have said that they would avoid using cloned animals because of safety concerns. REUTERS
Brain protein holds key to fertility, say scientists
Wellington: Scientists have discovered the crucial ovulationtriggering role played by a small protein molecule in the brain, a finding that could hold the key to new therapies for infertility.
Dubbed kisspeptin, the protein is known to play a vital role in kick-starting puberty.
Now, a group from the University of Otago led by Professor Allan Herbison, in collaboration with Cambridge University researchers, has published the first evidence that kisspeptin signalling in the brain is also essential for ovulation to occur in adults.
Studying female mice, the researchers found that signalling between kisspeptin and its cell receptor GPR54 was essential to activate gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) neurons, the nerve cells known to initiate ovulation.
The research appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. “This is an exciting finding, as people have been trying to find out precisely how the brain controls ovulation for more than 30 years. This work now reveals a crucial link in the brain circuitry responsible,” Herbison said in a statement. REUTERS
Dubbed kisspeptin, the protein is known to play a vital role in kick-starting puberty.
Now, a group from the University of Otago led by Professor Allan Herbison, in collaboration with Cambridge University researchers, has published the first evidence that kisspeptin signalling in the brain is also essential for ovulation to occur in adults.
Studying female mice, the researchers found that signalling between kisspeptin and its cell receptor GPR54 was essential to activate gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) neurons, the nerve cells known to initiate ovulation.
The research appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. “This is an exciting finding, as people have been trying to find out precisely how the brain controls ovulation for more than 30 years. This work now reveals a crucial link in the brain circuitry responsible,” Herbison said in a statement. REUTERS
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