Food Safety, Animal Health and Welfare and Environmental Impact of Animals derived from Cloning by Somatic Cell Nucleus Transfer (SCNT) and their Offspring and Products Obtained from those Animals

Abstract

In 2007 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked by the European Commission to provide a scientific opinion on the food safety, animal health, animal welfare and environmental implications of animal clones, obtained through somatic cell nucleus transfer (SCNT) technique, of their progeny and of the products obtained from those animals. In view of the multidisciplinary nature of this subject this task was assigned to the EFSA Scientific Committee. The ethical aspects of cloning are outside the remit of EFSA and the European Commission asked the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies to provide an opinion on the ethical aspects of cloning. 3 Unlike sexual reproduction, in which the fertilized egg is totipotent (capable of becoming all cells in the resulting organism), in SCNT, the activated embryo containing a differentiated somatic cell first must be "reset" to totipotency, so that it then follows the same path as a fertilized embryo and is able to complete embryonic and foetal development. This process called "reprogramming" changes the biochemical signals that control gene expression. Failure of the epigenetic reprogramming, which may occur to varying degrees, is the source of potential adverse health effects which may affect clones and may result in developmental abnormalities. The production of healthy clones is the main indicator of the successful functioning of epigenetic reprogramming. Cloning by SCNT has been applied to several animal species. Based on current knowledge and given the data available it was only possible to make a risk assessment on clones of cattle and pigs and their progeny. 1 The animal species covered in this opinion are cattle and pigs 2 For citation purposes: Scientific Opinion of the Scientific Committee on a request from the European Commission on Food Safety, Animal Health and Welfare and Environmental Impact of Animals derived from Cloning by Somatic Cell Nucleus Transfer (SCNT) and their Offspring and Products Obtained from those Animals.

Regulation and safety considerations of somatic cell nuclear transfer-cloned farm animals and their offspring used for food production

“…Prior to the introduction of these amendments that also explicitly addressed products from cloned animals as "novel foods", the European Commission had received advice from the European Group on Ethics in Science and New technologies (EGE) on the safety and ethical aspects of the cloning of animals through SCNT for food production. The EGE considered four general ethical concerns, also drawing on the outcomes of the previously cited findings of experts on health and welfare implications of cloning through SCNT for EFSA [57], namely [66]:…”