Meat and milk from cloned bovines meet industry standards

Cindy Tian et al. report that meat and milk from cloned bulls and cows, respectively, appear to meet regulatory standards. The researchers cloned a Japanese Black beef bull and Holstein dairy cow, using somatic cell nuclear transfer, and compared the meat and milk from two beef clones and four dairy clones to that of geneticand breed-matched control animals bred through conventional reproduction. Cloned and comparator animals received the same diet and were managed under the same conditions. Analysis of protein, fat, and other variables routinely assessed by the dairy industry revealed no significant differences in the milk compositions of the cloned and control cows. The authors examined 100 meat quality criteria, including organ and body part weights; total proportion of meat and fat in the dressed carcass; crude protein, fat, and moisture content in six muscles; fatty acid content in five major fat tissues; and overall organ histopathology. Approximately 90% of the criteria showed no statistically significant variations. Eight variables relating to the amount of fat and fatty acids in the meat were significantly higher in the meat from the clones. The authors say these higher fat levels are within beef industry standards.