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Need Milk? Get Yourself A Supercow.

Posted by timothy on from the 14000-liters dept.

GM OOOO writes "Sydney Morning Herald is reporting the birth of three 'supercows.' Interesting thing here, besides the potential for milk, is the fact this was done via selctive breeding and genetic selection via embryonic implantation -- not adding the gene of a sea cucumber of something to modify it to produce as it does now. Supercows - kinda reminds me of the Mootrix movie now (FEAR)."

5 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. (Yawn) Nothing to see here, move along by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As the article says, all they did was ship embryos from champion Canadian milk cows to New Zealand and implant them in host mother cows there. A fancy way to save on air freight over shipping the calves.

    Actually, there is one more detail that's probably relevant. New Zealand is free of a number of livestock diseases that bother the rest of the world (honeybees, particularly) and has extremely stringent animal quarantine regulations.

    It is possible that frozen embryos were considered to be less likely to be hiding any diseases than a full-grown calf and so the entire business was basically a way of satisfying quarantine.

    But there is absolutely nothing magic about the ancestry or genetics of the cows.

  2. Need Milk? by Sasafras · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nope. I enjoy my health too much to destroy it with one of the most bland types of junk food in existence.

  3. I wonder if these will not spread disease by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Interesting


    Believe me, you don't want bit's of your intestines removed every few years.

    Plenty of research is showing a link between Crohn's and milk consumption.

    http://www.crohns.org/media/pr180900.htm
    http:/ /www.nomilk.com/crohns.shtml
    http://www.smh.com.a u/articles/2003/08/07/10601458 00356.html

    My signature isn't *just* propaganda

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
  4. Milk Doesn't Do A Body Good by tokki · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just think how marketing has imprinted in our brain that "milk is good for you". In fact, those claims would have to be described as "unsubstantiated".

    http://notmilk.com

    There're plenty more where that came from. Imagine drinking cat's milk, or rat's milk, or even horse milk. Why then, is it not disgusting to drink cow's milk? Marketing.

    With synthetic bovine hormones (illegal just about everywhere except the US), and rampant use of antibiotiocs, it's even more disgusting.

  5. Transport a bull for stud services? Yeah, right. by Spamalamadingdong · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've got news for you, guy: dairy farmers have been freezing bull sperm for a lot longer than they've been freezing embryos, and a bull is darn lucky if he ever gets to hump a real live cow. Why do you think you can get liquid nitrogen delivered to your doorstep in the boondocks?

    --
    Scientists restrict study to entire physical universe; creationist