The Chinese have bred cows that produce human milk in their bovine udders and we are encouraged to believe that this is a good thing. Genetic engineering has been enthusiastically embraced by the Chinese, news reports proclaim, and GE will sweep the world bringing untold benefit to the human race. Listening to the report on the radio recently, coming as it did just after news of the e-coli outbreak in Europe, I wondered if it might be more than just the cow's milk that might be 'human' - what if their manure had similarities to our own and hosted pathogens that could more readily attack us human beings?
Cow sh*t seeping into our paddocks and rivers causes problems enough here in New Zealand. If it began to resemble that of humans, our countryside would become truly toxic!
18 comments:
Udderbarunda understands completely!!
Robert where did you get this photo of me?!!
Ha!
Your husband sent it to me.
I know not why but I'm very grateful (it suits the story perfectly :-)
Udders other name is "quadraboob"
She gives great hugs!! :)
Let's not lose sight of the fact that the post is about genetic engineering :-)
(my mother-in-law was a little taken-aback by the image and I'm conscious of it's power to offend. It was used in giant billboard form, by Greenpeace to advertise its opposition to the issue of ge milk, as I recall.)
Seriously Robert, this is some of the most disturbing news I can ever recall hearing.
This will end tragically, mark my words.
We don't need to genetically modify anything, it is just wrong on so many levels.
Why would anyone do this? I drink cows milk (in my coffee) because it's from cows. If I wanted to drink human milk, I had the opportunity after my children were born. It wasn't tempting then, it's not tempting now.
Medicinal purposes, then? Tell us more; why is this being done?
Armchair Critic -
(apologies for long 'comment'
TITLE: SCIENTISTS PREDICT STRONG THIRST FOR 'HUMAN MILK'
SOURCE: China Daily, China
AUTHOR:
URL: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/7326680.html
DATE: 22.03.2011
SUMMARY: "Genetically modified dairy products that are similar to human milk
will appear on the Chinese market in two years, an expert in biotechnology
has predicted. Li Ning, a scientist from the Chinese Academy of Engineering
and director of the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at China
Agricultural University, said [...] Chinese scientists have successfully
created a herd of more than 200 cows that is capable of producing milk that
contains the characteristics of human milk."
_______
SCIENTISTS PREDICT STRONG THIRST FOR 'HUMAN MILK'
Genetically modified (GM) dairy products that are similar to human milk will
appear on the Chinese market in two years, an expert in biotechnology has
predicted.
Li Ning, a scientist from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of
the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at China Agricultural
University, said progress in the field is well under way.
Li said Chinese scientists have successfully created a herd of more than 200
cows that is capable of producing milk that contains the characteristics of
human milk.
He said the technology is at the cutting edge worldwide and will ensure
"healthy protein contained in human milk is affordable for ordinary
consumers".
Photos depicting the GM cows were on display at an exhibition, held between
March 7 and 14 in Beijing, that showcased China's major technological
achievements during the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010).
"In ancient China, only the emperor and the empress could drink human milk
throughout their lives, which was believed to be the height of opulence," Li
said. "Why not make that kind of milk more available for ordinary people?"
Human milk contains two kinds of nutrition that can help improve the immune
systems and the central nervous systems of children. The components are not
available in milk produced by goats or cows.
Li said the scientific world had not previously found a way to mass-produce
those ingredients. The GM milk will be as safe to drink as that of the
ordinary cows, he added.
The Ministry of Agriculture issued bio-safety examination certificates for
the GM herd in March 2010, giving the scientific team a 22-month period
during which the technology can be tested in laboratories.
The ministry will then evaluate the results of the tests before deciding
whether to allow the milk to be sold.
"The milk tastes stronger than normal milk," Li said. "Within 10 years,
people will be able to pick up these human-milk-like products at the
supermarket."
Xue Dayuan, chief expert with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said
the government will carry out a series of tests on the transferred gene and
the method of transplanting it before the genetically modified cows and
their milk are declared safe.
There has been a good deal of opposition to GM technology in the United
States and Canada, according to Fang Lifeng, a campaigner for Greenpeace
China's food and agriculture project.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
It's about time I found something we disagree on Rob ;)
The risks you talk about really don't exist, or, at least, they are well known and got be tested for and avoided.
In this case, the inserted genes can only be expressed in the mammary gland, so it's unlikely to change the rest of the animal. (And cows already get our pathogens, which is why we pasteurise milk).
There are lots of reasons to be careful about GE, but a blanket ban isn't reasonable.
Okay David....how about ...the increased danger that mastitis in cows will spread to the now-very-similar human females?
That'd be nasty!
Also, calves drinking that humanized milk will defecate - will that dung contain genetic material that could enter the environment?
Also, calves drinking that humanized milk will defecate - will that dung contain genetic material that could enter the environment?
It's very unlikely, and it's hard to imagine what danger they'd pose if they did. The genes already exist, and they sit within the cells of the cow. The only thing that makes it into the milk is milk-proteins
I was going to add, for anyone idealogically opposed to GE:
Talk to a diabetic - the vast majority of insulin used today is made using recombinant DNA
I'm fully supportive of ge development where, for example, diabetics, benefit. This 'human milk from cows' development looks though, to be something that will escalate and burst out into the broad field and present enormous difficulties should some unhealthy effect become apparent.
No concerns about the liklihood that vast volumes of 'human' milk will be out in the field and subject to disease that might translocate into/infect the human 'herd'?
I've worked on a dairy farm. It ain't no laboratory.
No concerns about the liklihood that vast volumes of 'human' milk will be out in the field and subject to disease that might translocate into/infect the human 'herd'?
Not that I can see. The 'human' milk is just cow milk with a couple of extra proteins. People's initial reaction to hearing about is "yuck" - but it's worth remembering their is nothing natural about humans drinking cow's milk (or adults drinking milk at all, most populations on earth can't)
Don't tell that to cultures like the Maasai who drink massive amounts of milk ;-)
Mixed with blood wildcrafty.
Lacto-vampire-ism
vampire girl needs to talk,,,phone home
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