Posted on 03/26/2006 3:00:03 PM PST by neverdem
A group of university researchers said today that they had created what sounds like a nutritional holy grail: cloned pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids, potentially leading to bacon and pork chops that might help your heart.
For now, the benefits of the research are highly theoretical. Omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to a lowered incidence of heart disease, are primarily found in fish. No one knows whether they would have the same effect if people ate them in pork instead.
And government approval for such genetically modified foods is certain to face opposition from consumer groups.
Still, some scientists say the findings, published online by the journal Nature Biotechnology, are an important forerunner of things to come.
"At this point it's a new era," said Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science and policy at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University School of Medicine.
Alexander Leaf, an emeritus professor of clinical medicine at Harvard, said that he was confident that pork and other foods with omega-3's would eventually get to American consumers and that they would be better for it.
"People can continue to eat their junk food," Dr. Leaf said. "You won't have to change your diet, but you will be getting what you need."
For years, people have been urged to eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids. But fish can be expensive, not everyone likes it, and omega-3's are in greatest abundance in oily fish like tuna, which contains mercury.
That nutritional conundrum led a group of scientists from Harvard Medical School, the University of Missouri, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to think of modifying pigs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Send one to Bin Laden.
Healthy bacon would be man's greatest achievment.
Nope. Quiet women would be man's greatest achievement, but healthy bacon makes a great follow up?
Four responses and no picture of Rosie?--- NO! Just kidding. Don't do it.
I'm thinking, ... I'm thinking, .... man this philosophy stuff is hard, I could sure go for a BLT about now.
So9
Sounds like a cross between a fish and a pig. Let's call it a 'fig.'
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