- Print Friendly - Help

Frequently Asked Questions about cloned animals

What is animal cloning?

Animal cloning is a way of producing multiple copies of individual animals. There are a number of forms of animal cloning. The latest and most frequently used technique is termed Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. It involves removing the nucleus from an egg or oocyte (recipient) and replacing it with the nucleus of a cell from the animal to be cloned (donor). The donor is usually an animal with desirable traits, and following successful transfer, the cell develops into an embryo which is implanted into a surrogate mother for rearing. The animal born from that embryo will have virtually identical DNA and therefore desirable traits, as the donor animal.

Researchers in New Zealand and around the world have shown the promise of animal cloning in preserving and propagating important animal lines, from elite sires through to endangered species. New Zealand scientists are considered world leaders in many aspects of animal cloning research.

Why use animal cloning?

In farming, animals vary widely in their genetic merit and commercial value. To rapidly multiply animals selected for valuable traits such as milk production, meat quality and healthiness, reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination (AI), embryo transfer and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) are already used worldwide.

Animal cloning is also a reproductive technology, but unlike artificial insemination, IVF and embryo transfer, cloning allows the direct copying of animals with high genetic or resale value, with less unpredictability than convention breeding. The advantage of cloning is that the sex, genetic traits and therefore likely commercial value of the animal are known before birth.

Is cloning used in other industries?

While animal cloning using Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer is a relatively recent technology, propagation techniques to produce clones have been used in horticulture for hundreds of years with grapes, potatoes, strawberries and many other food plants. Although the same outcome is achieved (producing an organism which is virtually identical to the original), animal cloning is much more ethically and socially complex, with animal welfare considerations.

Are there cloned animals in New Zealand and do they enter the food supply?

All cloned animals in New Zealand are currently confined to the research environment and do not enter the food chain. The cloning of livestock animals is still very much at the experimental stage and is restricted to very small numbers of elite breeding stock.

It is important to note that at this time, cloning an animal is very expensive (tens of thousands of dollars per animal) and therefore it is not commercially viable to clone animals for direct use as food. Cloned animals are more likely to be used as breeding stock to pass on valuable traits to their offspring, in much the same way artificial insemination and IVF is used. Just like conventionally farmed animals, these clones may enter the food chain at the end of their commercially productive life (although currently this is not the case).

Would food from cloned animals be safe to eat?

If cloned animals were to be used as food, the safety of products from them would be compared with the safety of products from conventionally bred animals. NZFSA has been looking at this issue for some years and has found no safety reasons to reject food from cloned animals.

Scientific studies conducted both internationally and here in New Zealand have concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that food products from cloned animals or their offspring pose a greater risk than the consumption of products from conventionally bred animals.

How will I know if food is from a cloned animal?

Because food from cloned animals is considered as safe as that from conventionally bred animals, there is no safety reason to identify the food differently from conventional food. Labels and warnings on food are used to identify ingredients that may cause illness to some people and typically these are warning labels for allergens, or nutritional information for dietary and health reasons. Contact details of the supplier are required on food labels, however, so for those consumers who wish to know the production history of the food, it is possible to request these details from the supplier.

However where there is strong consumer demand, a food manufacturer may choose to meet that demand by voluntarily labelling their product with that information. There would be nothing stopping a manufacturer doing this in the case of cloning. Examples of private labelling regimes that have been developed to meet consumer demand include SPCA approved free range eggs, organic produce, and the Heart Foundation tick.

What about the welfare of cloned animals?

New Zealanders are naturally concerned about the care of farmed animals. Although it isn’t the role of NZFSA to judge issues such as animal welfare or ethics (NZFSA’s Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Group considers animal welfare when administering the ACVM Act) we believe these are important considerations.

New Zealand’s principal animal welfare legislation is the Animal Welfare Act 1999. This covers both farmed and experimental animals, including cloned animals. This legislation is administered by Biosecurity New Zealand. You can get more information on this from http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/regs/animal-welfare/nz.

The negative effects of cloning on the health and welfare of some cloned animals, and the surrogate animals that carry them are well documented. Many of the same abnormalities have been observed, although at a lower frequency, with other related assisted reproductive technologies and occasionally in conventional breeding. These abnormalities may include difficulties giving birth, higher rates of pregnancy loss, increased birth weight and increased rates of post-natal mortality.

Only healthy clones would be used for breeding purposes and their offspring would need to be as healthy as conventionally bred animals to be determined as fit for food production.

What is NZFSA’s position on animal cloning as a food safety issue, and why?

NZFSA has been considering this issue for some time, and its policy recommendations are based on completed and peer-reviewed research from many sources. (For more information see Food from cloned animals on the NZFSA website).

There is no accepted scientific evidence to suggest that food from cloned animals is any less safe than food from non-cloned animals. On that basis, NZFSA believes there is no need for specific regulation of such foods, should they ever enter the food chain. As food, they would be subject to general safety requirements under existing legislation.

Research is continuing in this area and NZFSA will continue to monitor international developments so that if safety issues arise from food derived from cloned animals or their offspring, NZFSA will consider the need for specific regulation.