According to an article in the Washington Post , FDA is poised to clear the consumption of cloned animals as food. While some fail to realize such technology is widely available, others simply prefer that cloning of food not take place. FDA’s stand is that there is no difference between the meat or milk of cloned animals and that of those that are conceived naturally.

While the debate seems to center on purely
scientific grounds, thoughtful news watchers may want to ask, “Who
would benefit most from relaxed rules on cloning?”

Patents placed on plants within the last ten years
have been a boon for corporations like Monsanto, that now approach
total control of the bulk of the nations corn and soybean seed crops.
Genetic engineering has produced more than chemical resistant crops; it
has also yielded a bumper crop of royalties for those companies that
now hold indisputable rights to seeds themselves. Cloning may represent
the next big harvest for biotech companies that are ready, willing, and
craving to be able to patent domestic livestock.

The day may not be far off when cattle and hog
producers include in their annual operating budget the license they
must purchase and renew each time the bulls or boars are turned in. To
some that may mean progress, but to Americas farms and ranches it
represents the loss of yet another freedom.

Richard R. Oswald