Cloning

The meaning of human nature itself is under threat from a new philosophy of “soul-less scientism” that will undermine “our own self-understanding as human beings” and reduces the aspirations of mankind to the purely material realm. This new philosophy outstrips the danger posed by the actual techniques and technologies of modern biomedical science, said Dr. Leon Kass, speaking to a New York audience in October.

The current generation of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is vulnerable to eavesdropping, cloning and forging. That's according to an April security trends report (download PDF) from security software vendor McAfee Inc. The Sage report is issued semiannually by McAfee Avert Labs based on its research into high-tech threats.

The meat and milk from cloned animals are safe to eat and should be allowed for sale, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And you'll never know, anyway, because the labeling will be a clone of the labeling used for non-cloned beef. No special labeling is needed, the FDA says in an article published in the Jan. 1 issue of Theriogenology and in the full 678-page study posted on the FDA web site last week. The less we know the better, apparently. Why else would the results of a four-year investigation in cloning safety be announced quietly between Christmas and New Year's?