The Pros And Cons Of Genetic Engineering Of Animals

The genetic engineering of animals has increased quite quickly in the last couple of years , and the use of this technology has brought up many hot discussions , this discussion is related to the overall health of animals and whether or not it is safe for the animal . These issues need to be seen and discussed by stakeholders , of these people veterinarians must be on top , So that they may ensure the overall knowledge of what this practice truly does to the well being of animals and how unnecessary it is . As a result of the extra challenges that genetically engineered animals bring, governing bodies have started to develop relevant policies, often calling for increased vigilance and monitoring of potential animal welfare impacts. Veterinarians

Animals have sadly been “enhanced” to what is considered better by humans so that they may be of better use. For example, “genetically engineered pigs and sheep that have been genetically changed to have higher levels of growth hormones. Genetically engineered farm animals can be created to have better food quality. For example, pigs have been genetically engineered to express the fatty acid desaturase gene from spinach for higher levels of omega-3 and goats have been genetically engineered to express human lysozyme in their milk. Such advances may add to the nutritional value of animal-based products.” as can be seen in the article by Elisabeth H. Ormandy. Farm species are genetically engineered unnaturally in order to make them less pollutants Genetic engineering has also been applied with the aim of reducing agricultural

This means that large populations of animals are produced to obtain genetically engineered animals that are of value but hardly any actually have the change that make them of any value to the human population so it makes all the animal suffering worthless. In addition, the advancement of genetic engineering technologies in recent years has to lead to a huge increase in the number of genetically engineered animals, particularly mice. Although the technology is continually being made better it just isn’t enough to stop animal suffering, current genetic engineering techniques are still inefficient, with many kind animals being exposed to harmful procedures. In Canada, the CCAC’s annual data on the numbers of animals used in science show an increase in Category D procedures this means the procedure has the possibility to cause moderate to severe pain and distress at present the creation of a new genetically engineered animal line is a Category D procedure. The data also show an increase in the use of mice which are the most commonly used species for genetic engineering which is sad considering as mice have no law protecting how hay are treated in labs because of how cheap and easy they are to breed and produce more of, making them over 90% of the genetically engineered animals used in lab testing . It has been said by professionals that once there has been