Animal cloning 'must not be profit-led'

US scientists say cloned animals are safe to eat

The body that advises the UK Government on biotechnology is set to recommend that animal cloning should not purely be driven by commercial motives.

In a report on the controversial issue of animal cloning, published on Tuesday, it will also propose that animal welfare legislation is updated to cover genetically modified (GM) animals.

The Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) advises the government on biotechnology issues affecting agriculture and the environment.

What we are trying to ensure is that genetic biotechnology... gets used wholly for the public good and isn't dominated wholly by profit motive

Professor Malcolm Grant, AEBC chairman

In its second major report, it is also expected to call for public debate and new regulations to cover future animal cloning developments.

The AEBC was set up in July 2000 and reported on the UK's field trials of GM crops last September.

Only a handful of animals have been cloned so far in the UK and GM techniques are in their infancy.

GM bacon?

But this is likely to change in the next decade or so, with cloned or GM animals perhaps ending up on the dinner plate.

AEBC chairman Professor Malcolm Grant told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What we are trying to ensure is that genetic biotechnology, which is opening a new chapter in society's relationship with animals, gets used wholly for the public good and isn't dominated wholly by profit motive.

"We think society now has to grapple with the issues that it raises."

Prof Grant said the organisation would not be making any recommendations on the subject of cloning pets, although he was personally opposed to it.

He said he could recognise a commercial argument for creating GM fish - which grow two or three times faster than ordinary fish - but he feared they may escape into the wild and damage natural eco-systems.

"Once into the wild, it's beyond the reach of recovery from any national government," he said.

Cloned farm animals

Dr Harry Griffin, the Assistant Director of the Roslin Institute, which cloned Dolly the Sheep, is also concerned about GM fish escaping.

He said: "There are certainly environmental consequences of faster-growing salmon escaping into the wild and until we are sure of what those consequences are, then I think it's quite reasonable there should be a ban."

He also said the cloning of pets would not be possible under current legislation.

Dr Griffin said: "The Animal Procedures Committee of the Home Office has already made it very clear that it would not sanction the use of cloning technology for this sort of purpose and we fully support that."

Countries such as the US are already preparing for the arrival of GM animals on the farm.

The US government's regulatory body, the Food and Drug Administration, is currently debating whether or not it should allow the sale of GM meat and milk.

Meanwhile, researchers in Texas recently produced the first cloned pet - a cat called CopyCat.

Sheep, mice, goats, pigs and cattle are other animal species that have been cloned.