Cloning Cows for Cuba 31
AVIDLY INTERESTED writes: "You've got to hand it to the Cubans. They have been surviving by hook or by crook since the collapse of Communism without the subsidies the USSR used to afford them. Now, according to this article at The Age they are using the ingenuity of their scientists to clone White Udder, the cow of all cows, that will cover an entire nation in healthy milk moustaches."
maybe they can modify the cows dna... (Score:1, Funny)
Alternative to cloning (Score:3, Informative)
If you cross bred a weak gene plant with a normal plant then the offspring will inherit nearly all genes from the second plant.
This way when he found a particular wheat plant with very high level of protein he would cross breed it with the weak gene plants in order to reproduce it nearly intact.
This research was quickly forgotten when cloning came along.
Re:Alternative to cloning (Score:1)
Re:Alternative to cloning (Score:2)
Re:Plant genetic engineering? (Score:2)
I have heard of gene labs which produced THC in eadable forms (eating leaves is not very good).
But this method would be used in making a weak gened cannabis plant then if you are lucky enough to find a high yeild plant you cross it with your weak one and you have a forest of very good crop plants.
Although original application was to make high protein wheat which can survive in Africa.
Re:Plant genetic engineering? (Score:2)
[1] Also, you must consider, do you want just D9-THC? Imbibing Cannabis is different than just taking a D9-THC injection or pill; there is a lot of other minor cannaboids (D9-THC is the most abundant) that add to the 'stoned' experience. You'd have to repeat this for each cannaboid!
Milk Isn't Healthy (Score:2, Offtopic)
http://www.milksucks.com [milksucks.com]
Don't support the dairy industry it's trying to kill you.
The vitamins are added, the anti-biotics attack your immune system and to top it all you run the risk of Crohns Disease [and that aint nice - from one who knows].
Skip the cows and grow earth sapping mono-cultures instead [provamel.com]
Re:Milk Isn't Healthy (Score:2)
Are you eating Cloned Cuban Cow(tm)? (Score:3, Funny)
Plus, each Cloned Cuban Cow(tm) comes with it's own Fidel-like beard! Get them while they're new!
(Gloria Estefan and Celia Cruz do not speak for The Cloned Cuban Cow Company)
Healthy? (Score:1)
So, by all means, let's encourage Cubans to consume dairy products, so that they will develop some of the same nutritionally-connected diseases that we have. While we are at it, let's export the whole USDA "food pyramid" myth.
Re:Healthy? (Score:1, Informative)
No there is no such thing as a dairy food group, and indeed the USDA food pyramid is a scheme to support the agriculture industry and protect it from consumers radically changing their eating habit. But technically, there are no food groups at all, period. There is no such thing as a perfect human diet, we eat whatever we can figure out how, and that's just the way it is. Perhaps someday in the future we'll figure out ways to preserve our dietary variety without sacrificing our health, but until then, food technology (like other technologies) is imperfect. If everyone could enjoy their food as much as they do now and be Vegan, it might happen. But few people have the mettle for that.
Of my five best friends in high school, four were vegan. They've all reverted to being lacto-ovo vegetarian. The reason? They hated to eat what they were eating, and wanted to enjoy it again. Maybe some people can be happy with the vegan options, but that's a personal choice, and not the "objectively correct" one.
In short, it doesn't matter what mammals eat in nature. All that matters is what people eat, period.
Re:Healthy? (Score:1)
Re:Healthy? (Score:1)
Just FYI, some differences between cow and human milk:
Human milk is much higher in lactose, making it both sweeter and higher in energy content. It is also lower in the protein casien, which give it a softer, more digestible curd. There are also some differences in the ratio of various amino acids and minerals.
Re:Healthy? (Score:1)
Human milk comes from Human Breasts/Udders.
Cow Milk comes from Cow Breasts/Udders.
Hope that helps.
just the beginning I'm sure (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:just the beginning I'm sure (Score:2)
Exasperated by the Cuban Government's sentimental attachment to the long-dead White Udder, Mr Valdes has asked for asylum in the US, where he hopes that scientific research will not be as "politicised".
The wrong reason. A sad thing. (Score:2)
I bet some appropriate technology measures would fit the situation better than this. Or even just the old cure-all: training and education. Cuba overcame illiteracy. Surely they could also provide county agent-like services [reeusda.gov] to their farmers to overcome the described decline in cattle health and performance. Here's a description of county agents from 1925 [ncsu.edu]. This sounds like exactly the kind of thing that Communists would be good at--government paternalism. Paternalistic or not, extension agents vastly improved the practices and lifestyle of rural Americans for the better during the mid-20th century.
On the question of whether milk is good for you, it's got a lot of protein, calcium, and fat that you need when you're very young. And fortunately children aren't generally lactose-intolerant. That sets in, when it does, after puberty usually.
P.S. Slashdot meetup URL [meetup.com]
Got Milk? (Score:1)
Daisy Fuentes with a milk moustache.
Now *that's* what Cuba's good for!
waste of money (Score:1)
Aren't they worried... (Score:1)
-- Terry