1. Opinió de l’EGE sobre els Aspects Ètics
de la Clonació d’Animals per a l’Alimentació
Pere Puigdomènech
Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica CSIC-IRTA-UAB. Barcelona
Membre del Grup Europeu d’Ètica de les Ciènces i les Noves
Tecnologies

2. Què és l’EGE?

3. European Group on Ethics in Science
and New Technologies (EGE)
• The EGE is an independent, pluralist and
multidisciplinary body which advises the
European Commission on ethical aspects of
science and new technologies in connection
with the preparation and implementation of
Community legislation or policies
http://europa.eu.int/comm/european_group_ethics/index_en.htm

4. European Group on Ethics in Science
and New Technologies (EGE)
Göran Hermerén, Linda Nielsen, Rafael Capurro, Inez de Beaufort,
Pere Puigdomenèch Rosell and Günter Virt, (from the former EGE)
new members: Emmanuel Agius, Diana Bánáti, Anne Cambon-Thomsen
Jozef Glaza, Hille Haker, Julian Kinderlerer, Krzysztof Marczewski
Paula Martinho da Silva, Francesco Busnelli

5. • Following President Barroso's requests, in
2006-2007 the EGE has issued Opinions on
(1) ethics and nanomedicine, (2) Ethics
review of FP7 human embryonic stem cells
projects (3) ethical apects of animal cloning
for food supply

6. EGE Opinion on Ethical Aspects
of Animal Cloning for food supply

7. Mandat
• The EGE has already issued an Opinion
on ethics of animal cloning in 1997, but
due to the state of the art of the
technology at that moment, it did not
address the ethics of animal cloning
specifically for food supply. The EGE
Opinion complements and updates the
previous one and is intended to
complement that of EFSA.

8. Preparació
• 10 months of internal working meetings,
expert hearings, a public consultation
launched in the Europa web site (800
contributions received) and a round table
with representatives from academia, industry,
NGOs, civil society, International
organisations and industry on January 16,
2008, the EGE has adopted the Opinion on
ethical aspects of animal cloning for food
supply.

9. Gener 2008

10. Bases científiques

11. El procediment de clonació

12. Els animals
són
o no són
idèntics?

13. Perspectives

14. Impacte en el mitjans de
comunicació

15. Un article a The Guardian
Descendants of Dolly
Scientists will have to work hard to persuade a cynical public to tuck in to the idea of
cloned meat
James Randerson
Monday July 16, 2007
The Guardian
How would you feel about tucking into a burger from a cloned cow or serving rashers of
cloned bacon to your kids? Since Dolly the sheep was revealed in 1997, cloning has
been a distant science for most people. But that will soon change. Scientists predicted
last week that cloned meat could be on American dinner plates within two years. And
Europe may not be far behind.
Mail from a reader:
eh, I don't know, it's one thing to put unnatural things like chemicals on, and
in, meat. It's another thing to have the meat itself be unnatural. And by
unnatural I mean there's no way that animal would have occurred in the
natural world. Kinda seems icky, gives me the creeps. I won't buy any.

16. Interès industrial

17. Clonació de toros braus

19. Informe de la FDA

20. Informe de la FDA

21. Informe de la FDA

22. Esborrany d’opinió EFSA

23. Esborrany d’opinió EFSA

24. Esborrany d’opinió EFSA

25. Recomenacions (EFSA)

26. Aspectes legals

27. Base legal

28. Problemes ètics

29. Focus de l’opinió

30. Arguments a favor
• The arguments in favour are mainly economical:
To keep up European competition on the free
market, to facilitate industrial development to
improve food production and quality or to
minimise costs (cheaper food production)
• Cloning may be an useful tool to accelerate
breeding of animals of specific lineage, such as
cattle resistant to diseases or adverse conditions
• However the technique can also be used for the
conservation of rare animal breeds and it has
been tried to protect species in danger of
extinction

31. Arguments en contra
• concerns based on human health and safety,
animal health and welfare, animal integrity,
biodiversity, risk of epidemics, social and
economic consequences on rural areas,
agricultural trade; negative effects on the
attitude towards animals; ‘slippery slope’
(cloning of human beings).

32. Arguments sobre la clonació
d’animals per alimentació
• The Group is aware that there are differing
viewpoints on the moral acceptability of
using animals in modern farming and is
aware that there are some very strongly held
views against the instrumental use of animals
for human purposes regardless of positive
consequences this might have for humans.
The Group therefore recognises that, for
some people, animal cloning for food supply
is an ethically unacceptable practice,
whatever conditions are required.

33. Seguretat alimentària

34. Salut i benestar animal

35. Biodiversitat i sustanibilitat

39. Conclusions
• In line with EFSA findings, and considering the
current level of suffering and health problems of
surrogate dams and animal clones, the EGE has
doubts as to whether cloning animals for food
supply is ethically justified. Whether this applies
also to progeny is open to further scientific research.
• At present the EGE does not see convincing
arguments to justify the production of food from
clones and their offspring. If in the future food
products derives from cloned animals were to be
introduced to the European market, The EGE
recommends that a number of requirements are met

40. Food safety
• To guarantee safety of food products for human
consumption as a pre-condition for their
marketing.
Animal welfare and health
• 1) To respect as much as possible animal
welfare; 2) to carry out studies on long term
animal welfare and health implications,
including comparative analyses with other
animal farming assisted and traditional
reproductive technologies; 3) the Commission to
prepare a Code of Conduct for responsible farm
animal breeding, including animal cloning.

41. Traceability and Labelling
• 1) To apply the current EU legislation to food
regarding traceability of food products. It
should be ensured that EU legislation provides
for the ability to identify individual animals
where necessary; 2) Te EGE is aware of
technical difficulties for labelling, nevertheless
recommends the Commission to work out target
procedures prior to the marketing of such food
in the EU.

42. Biodiversity
• 1) To protect, as much as possible, biodiversity
in farm animals stocks also to avoid risks of
global epidemics; 2) the Commission to take
proper measures to preserve the genetic heritage
of animals' species.
Public perception
• To launch a thematic EUROBAROMETER
survey on animal cloning for food supply.
• Public participation: The Commission should
take a pro-active role by financing a number of
as hoc initiatives aimed at promoting public
debate.

43. Global Trade
• 1) to make the import of materials from
cloned animals and their offspring (e.g.
semen and food products) conditional to
the requests indicated in this EGE
Opinion (e.g. traceability provisions). 2)
To launch an international discussion on
considerations of free trade and ethical
concerns regarding the cloning of animals;

44. Additional research
• To concentrate research efforts to solve the lack
of knowledge on (1) scientific aspects indicated
in the EFSA report; (2) animal welfare and
health for other farmed species than the ones
covered by EFSA and FDA; (3) ethical, legal and
Social Implications of animal cloning for food;
(4) qualitative studies on public perception; (5)
exclusion clauses stated in EC/98/44 (Art. 6) and
EPO 23d with regard to animal cloning for food;
(7) research on food philosophy

45. Resum
• El Grup no ha trobat arguments essencials per
proposar una prohibició o una moratòria a l’ús
d’animals clonats per l’alimentació
• El Grup té dubtes de si el seu ús està justificat a
la vista dels pocs avantatges i dels problemes
de salut i benestar animal, de biodiversitat i de
percepció pública
• El Grup proposa que se segueixi la salut dels
animals i la seva descendència, que es
considerin maneres d’informar el públic i els
consumidors i que el plantegi la qüestió a nivell
internacional

46. Tot va començar amb Dolly!
Moltes gràcies