CRITERIA FOR THE PUBLIC ACCEPTABILITY OF BIOTECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN ANIMAL PRODUCTION

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the criteria for the public acceptability of biotechnological innovations in animal production. The aim of both exogenous growth hormone (GH) treatment and production of transgenic animals with increased copies per cell of the GH gene is to augment supply of GH to target tissues and thereby promote milk secretion or growth of lean body mass. It is inconceivable that these are the only physiological processes affected. It is thus important to establish as soundly as possible the totality of the effects induced, to define safety limits and ensure predictability and control. There have been some attempts to arrive at an understanding of the galactopoietic action of exogenous GH by a process of induction, comparing the effects produced by treatment with characteristics of genetically-superior animals. The ultimate limits of plasticity of the homeostatic process are clearly defined by the occurrence of disease states. Reports indicate how narrow the acceptable range might be in the case of pigs treated with pGH. It is reported that injections of 0.22 mg/kg/day resulted in some mortality, liver, and kidney degeneration, hemorrhage of the stomach, edema, and arthritis. In a later study pigs receiving a tenth of this dose showed no overt signs of ill health.