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Originally Posted by Alphagamuga
Thanks, I appreciate the info. Just so you all don't think I've been living in a cave, I want to say that I too knew that consuming the tissue was the way it was transmitted, even for cows, sheep, some game (there's an Elk form, I'm pretty sure), so I understood the "canniblism" element.
I just mistakenly believed that you could classify a prion transmitted illness, like I wanted to say "it's a virus" or "it's a bacteria," or "it's congential" (which weirdly, I think it can be with at least the human version). But I think prion disease is actually the classification.
I tend to think it's probably less likely to actually occur in cloned meat than bred meat, but I really don't know anything about it.
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A close collegue of mine studies encephalopathies and prions in Deer. He is a vet.
As I understand it, the research is unclear about "vertical transmission" of animal prions to humans, i.e. CJD (Cruzfeldt Jakob Disease). Molecularly, it is easy to understand, disease research is showing that misfolded proteins muck up a cellular system in a lot of diseases that ranges from cancer to heart disease. But that is is cellular or in vitro assays.
Within 10 years or our lifetimes, these kinds of diseases and treatment options will be solved... Newer kinds of drugs will be used to treat these factors. They will emmanate from the HAART treatments from HIV/AIDS.
As far as cloning, one could introduce various meat enhancing genes or substances to boost meat quality for superior meat cuts. If you can purchase a low to non-fat tenderloin or filet mignon that melts in your mouth, would you buy it even if it cost $100 per lb?
Or animals that had a superior immune system that did not require adding excessive amounts of antibiotics that they eventually become antibiotic resistant?
Or improved overall fitness with minimal amounts of movements because of the lack of feeding range or increased output of milk that would not require further processing because it is healthy right from the cow?
The ability to clone would be limitless.
Alas, others fear what little they know. When was the last acceleration of animal vet care, husbandry and food processing science in this country? 1940's? That is too long of a time to not have barely any new innovations with all the bioinformatics that we know now...