The earthquake caused a landslide which cut of the inhabitants of the village from the outside world. The people of this remote village were isolated for sixteen days without food except for small amounts of rice and herbs before being rescued by military helicopter. (Starving quake survivors saved 16 days on)
2. Approval of cloned meat raises consent and concern
The issue of cloning and its impact on human health has once again hit the news with the tacit acceptance of meat from cloned animals for human consumption. There has been a clear preliminary acceptance of meat from cloned animals by the authorities. Stephen Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, recently said that,
After reviewing additional data and the public comments in the intervening year since the release of our draft documents on cloning, we conclude that meat and milk from cattle, swine, and goat clones are as safe as the food we eat every day.
Black)
The FDA report stated that, "Extensive evaluation of the available data has not identified any subtle hazards that might indicate food-consumption risks in healthy clones of cattle, swine, or goats..." And that the edible products that were produces from cloned animals were "... comparable with products from...
In spite of this positive view of safety of cloned foodstuff there was a qualification to these results in that the FDA also admitted that more research was necessary to conclusively determine the safety of meat and milk from cloned sheep. (FDA OKs meat, milk from most cloned animals).
These results have taken six years of study and research, which has led to the present ruling concerning meat and milk from cloned pigs, cattle and goats and their offspring. (Black)
However, while governmental and medical authorities have given the go-ahead, there are many dissenting voices. These include activist groups and even politicians in the United States who are far from convinced that there is enough cogent scientific data to warrant the acceptance of cloned meat for general consumption. Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski recently stated that, "The FDA has acted recklessly, and I am profoundly disappointed in their rush to approve cloned foods..." (Black).
Public opinion is also lagging far behind the enthusiasm about cloned foods evidenced in the scientific community. Recent surveys by the Pew Charitable Trusts have estimated that more than two-thirds of consumers in the United States were unsure or "uncomfortable" with the idea of animal cloning
