Many people are put off by the idea of cloned meats. I can understand the kind of mad scientist laboratory scenario that would go through your head when you think of eating a cut of cloned meat. The thought generates many unsavory pictures in ones head mainly because of the lack of understanding of the actual process that happens.
Firstly, I am all for cloned meats, it allows for high grade meats to be continually produced with less potential for disease. The idea of 'cloning meat' is not that we are taking the genes from one cow and squirting it into a test tube of cow goop to create a test tube cow baby that gets grown instead of born. Not at all! When a rancher is blessed with a healthy and strong breeding steer he many want another genetically identical steer for next season. You may still be put off by the idea of produced steer but it may help to know that all cloned animals are born and grow up like any other animal, with a mother among a herd. The cloned animals are not eaten, either, they are used for breeding. At about $1.5 mil per animal, that would be one pricey steak. Instead, the edible product called 'cloned meat' is actually the offspring of a cloned male and a natural female.
In the near future we may be able to take the gene of a cow and make it resistant to disease and even fortify our meats to help us combat disease. Who knows what the future could hold...
