A 12-month Feeding Study of Reproduction/Development in Rats Fed Meat/Milk Powder Supplemented Diets Derived from the Progeny of Cloned Cattle Produced by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

Abstract

Abstract. The present 12-month feeding study was carried out with rat groups fed a diet supplemented with meat or milk (meat/milk) derived from the progeny of clones produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technology. It was conducted to obtain data concerning the chronic toxicities of these edible products during the process of development and reproduction in rats fed such products. The rats were subjected to clinical observations for general health condition and examinations such as sensory/reflex function, grip strength, motor activity, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmology and urinalysis. Moreover, sexually matured rats fed the test diets were mated and examined for items such as the reproductive performances of the dams and health of their pups. After the feeding period, factors related to rat health status, based on the findings for hematology, blood biochemistry, necropsy, organ weight and histology, were examined. There were no biologically significant differences in these factors between the rat groups fed meat/milk powder supplemented diets derived from the progeny and those fed meat/milk powder supplemented diets derived from conventionally bred cattle. Therefore, the present chronic toxicity study suggests that meat and milk derived from the progeny of SCNT cattle might be equivalent to those derived from conventionally bred cattle in use as dietary supplements for rats.

Foods Derived from Cloned Animals and Management Policies in Worldwide

“…Similar results were obtained by in a 21 d feeding test with a diet containing milk and meat from cattle clones (F0) (Heyman et al, 2007). A 12 mon oral toxicity study in the rat with meat and milk from the progeny of cattle clones (F1) was done in Japan and as the results, there were no biologically significant differences in composition among clones, their progeny and conventionally bred cattle (Yamaguchi et al, 2008).…”

Single and repeated oral dose toxicity study of fucoxanthin (FX), a marine carotenoid, in mice

“…Regarding the difference in total bilirubin concentrations between two control groups (vanadic oxidation method and Jendrassik-Grof method), although the reason for the difference is not clear at present, a similar tendency was reported in the rat studies. That is, total bilirubin concentration measured by Jendrassik-Grof method was much higher than that measured by the vanadic acid oxidation method (Sirota et al, 2008;Yamaguchi et al, 2008). In addition to total bilirubin concentrations, all of the FX groups showed significantly higher total cholesterol concentrations than those in the corresponding control groups.…”

The ecological adaptability of cloned sheep to free-grazing in the Tengger Desert of Inner Mongolia, China

“…However, considerable evidence has shown that the health [7,8,11,12], reproduction [12,15], meat and milk quality [18], and intelligence [14][15][16] of cloned animals are comparable to those from naturally produced animals. The social behavior of cloned animals has also been shown to be similar to non-cloned animals [28].…”

“…The cloned bulls derived from an aged and infertile bull had normal fertility [17]. Also, nutritional evaluation of milk and meat by rat feeding experiments showed that no differences were found between products derived from clones versus controls [18]. Immune status analysis suggests that cloned cattle present a normal representation of leukocyte subsets and functional immunity was not modified in cloned heifers [19].…”