[links] Link salad, Friday cutie

[jaylake]

Architecture of the Sublime - The Edge of the American West on the Brooklyn Bridge and veneration of the built landscape. That's a pretty interesting blog, btw, might be worth adding to your bookmarks.

FDA Set to OK Cloned Meat - For once, I think I agree with this administration on something.

Don't forget the latest caption contest - Still in

Comments

[jabber]

I don't understand the value of clone farming. Monoculture is a very bad idea and genetic diversity does not pose a production problem.

[jaylake]

I don't see clone farming as the end game. Though frankly, it's how apples have been raised since forever, and how a lot of modern fruits and vegetables are raised commercially.

What I see this as is an intermediate step to commercially viable tissue cloning. If you can grow flank steak, why raise and slaughter cows?

The ethical and hygiene issues in the meatpacking industry are very powerful, and seem to me to provide a potential balance for the ethical and scientific issues of cloning.

[jabber]

I just can't see cloning as the next logical step to selective breeding. The latter flirts with monoculture, but the former is nothing but.

I'm all for the vat-meat though. It will only have the same disease problems that mass-production of wine and beer has, so that doesn't worry me so.

[jaylake]

You are aware that apples are not bred? They don't breed true. No two apples off the same tree will grow identical new trees if germinated. All apple varietals are propagated as as cuttings and grafts. That's cloning without the lab, nothing but.

I don't disagree with you about the dangers of monoculture, not in the slightest, just pointing out that particular horse left the barn several thousands years ago with apples, and a century or more ago with table grapes and a number of other agricultural products.

Thanks.

[ext_76272]

Thanks for the link. And the kind words. We really appreciate it.

Ari

Re: Thanks.

[jaylake]

You are most welcome. So far I've found it to be a terrific blog, and I've linked several times now, I believe.