The Gastrocast Forum

[Podchef]

Once again Mad Cow Disease has made the news. But not as you would have expected. . .in a good way, this time. Although it depends on how you look at it.

Scientists have genetically modified cattle to resist the prions which cause Mad Cow Disease. I am sure the time and effort exhausted on this problem was money well spent, instead of say--cleaning up and changeing the cattle feedlot, feed them ground up carcasses, mentality.

Now, presumably the beef industry will feel justified that they can continue business as usual and it won't matter what they feed their cattle--genetics has made them safe. Does this make other cattle breeds obsolete?

No thanks. I think I'll take my chances and eat beef as mother nature intended--from grass grazing, hearty breeds of cattle like my own Highland calf.



Update:

Here are some more articles to consume:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsafety/news/fsnews.cfm?newsid=16526
http://blog.wired.com/biotech/2007/01/cows_now_withou.html

It caught my eye but didn't fully register until today--the cows tested and often pictured in these articles are Holsteins--a dairy breed! Granted plenty of hamburger is made from ground up, unwanted Holstein steers, this is an oddity. At least until you read in the Wired article that the same company which did the prion/cloning study also want to genetically engineer drugs into cows milk. No Thanks!

Try telling these beauties their milk is being messed with:
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[Podchef]

Here is an interesting article on the benefits vs the drawbacks of cloning, from an ag mag:
http://capitalpress.info/Main.asp?SectionID=75&ArticleID=29625
_________________
Keep on Cookin'!

http://kitchengardens.net

[Podchef]

Another update and more industry defense in favor of cloning:

http://capitalpress.info/Main.asp?SectionID=84&ArticleID=29662
_________________
Keep on Cookin'!

http://kitchengardens.net

[erdnase]

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72508-0.html?tw=wn_index_3,

<snip>

Alt Text2007: A biotechnology company in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, breeds cattle that are immune to mad cow disease. A relieved beef industry pours funding into the lab.

2008: Mad-cow-immune cows become the standard for livestock, but it is discovered that their prion-resistant brains have given them a primitive, sinister intelligence. Farmhand kickings, rodeo clown gorings and milkmaid stompings rise 400 percent. A few of the cows escape into the wild, making capture difficult....

<snip>

Whole story here

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72508-0.html?tw=wn_index_3