I have selected the following topic for this proposal: “Cloned animals and the safety of eating the products produced from them.” I chose this topic for the following reasons:
Technology is improving at a rapid rate, and before long, cloning will be used as a way to get more produce at a cheaper cost and higher rate of efficiency. Cloned animals and their products are already being utilized throughout the United States. Cloning is going to become a widespread technology at some point in the near future, so I believe that by learning about potential negative effects now, I can stay better informed and guided in the future.
I believe that knowing and understanding where our food comes from and how it was produced is extremely important. Knowing what goes into the bodies of families and children across the US is vital. I feel strongly about conducting in depth research and asking questions regarding the food we put into our mouths every day. This is an extremely contentious topic, and there’s a lot of confusion and controversy surrounding that. My hope is that by writing a paper on this topic, I will not only be able to better convey the correct information to other people, but that I will also be able to understand it better myself.
My thesis is the following: “Although there is a swarm of controversy surrounding the use of cloned animals and their products in the food industry, extensive studies have shown that there are no long-term health hazards or negative effects of using cloned animals and their products”
The audience that I am targeting consists of concerned people, maybe fathers, mothers, or other key members of a family, that are questioning their food and how it got to their plate. They have decision-making power as consumers; they can choose was products to purchase for their households and what products to ignore. This audience likely does not have an extensive amount of knowledge on this topic, and they are likely trying to find conclusive evidence that points in a direction. I imagine this audience dislikes ambiguity, and may have a difficult time sifting through academic or scientific resources when trying to find conclusive proof that cloned animals are good or bad. I want to address the audience in a way that presents all of the information in a succinct, yet thorough manner. Fathers and mothers would not want to read a jargon heavy or confusing paper, so my goal is to write the paper in a style that makes it approachable for all audiences, especially those who may not understand the finer mechanisms by which animals are cloned.
The paper has a fairly narrow scope; it will be five paragraphs total, the first being the introduction, the second being a discussion on how cloning works (at a basic level) and what the primary concerns are of consumers and food manufacturing companies. The third paragraph will discuss how this issue has been addressed in the media and other parts of the world. The fourth paragraph will discuss why there shouldn’t be a major concern regarding cloned animals and their products, and the fifth paragraph will consist of a conclusion. The overall scope of the paper is focused on a fairly specific topic, but will review the topic in a way that covers all of the necessary information, without being too complex for a layperson to read and understand.
How are animals cloned and why is it done in the food industry?
Why are consumers concerned about cloning animals?
How has this issue been addressed in the media/other parts of the world?
Are cloned animals safe to eat?
I want to gather resources that are both from the media and scientific papers, to contrast the different perspectives of journalists and researchers. Additionally, I feel as though that by combining news reports and scientific papers, I can establish a tone for the paper that is thorough, yet easy enough to understand for anyone who wants to know more on this topic. I plan to gather resources using Google Scholar and Google. This will enable me to gather a breadth of resources that I can use to show how the media views cloning animals versus how scientists were able to gather conclusive evidence and form an opinion on cloning animals. I also looked through some older editions of Science magazine, but was unable to find anything substantial. I also looked through several reputable science websites, such as the Scientific American, and Science magazine’s website. I was able to find one article that was sufficient.
I gathered six resources total: 3 primary sources and 3 secondary sources. These are on the next page, in APA format. The primary sources include selections from scientific literature, where researchers conducted detailed, thorough experiments that lasted several years regarding this topic. The secondary sources include news reports about the topic, the concerns surrounding the topic, and how these concerns have been largely resolved. I feel as though these resources best reflect the goal of the paper, which is to educate readers who may be misinformed on animal cloning without inundating them with jargon heavy or useless information.
References
FDA (2008). Animal Cloning and Food Safety. Consumer Health Information. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/UCM203337.pdf.
Martin, A. (2008). F.D.A Says Cloned Animals Safe to Eat. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/business/15cnd-clone.html?_r=0.
Miller, W., J. (2010) EU Nears Ban on Animal Cloning. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303550904575562202519212876.
Scientific American (2008). Are We Eating Cloned Meat? Scientific American. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-eating-cloned-meat/.
Tian, X. C., Kubota, C., Sakashita, K., Izaike, Y., Okano, R., Tabara, N., Curchoe, C., Jacob, L., Zhang, Y., Smith, S., Bormann, C., Xu, J., Sato, M., Andrew, S., & Yang, X. (2005). Meat and milk compositions of bovine clones. PNAS, 102(18). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yoshiaki_Izaike/publication/7906694_Meat_and_milk_compositions_of_bovine_clones/links/0a85e53c857fcb6fe3000000.pdf.
Yang, X., Tian, X., C., Kubota, C., Page, R., Xu, J., Cibelli, J., & Seidel, G. (2007). Risk assessment of meat and milk from cloned animals. Nature Biotechnology, 25. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v25/n1/full/nbt1276.html.
