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Terry Etherton

Department Head, Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University

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Question

Q: Hello. I have an idea. We need gene modify some fruit or vegetable to make it meat. I mean, gene modify this vegetable to make inside it animal protein. In this case we will have cheap meat which we can grow on garden and we wont kill animals. What do y

Answered By Terry Etherton - Dec 04, 2015

A: The question presented is not doable with today's science. Inserting the number of genes necessary to "recreate" muscle is not feasible for a number of reasons that are very complicated and not easily put in terms that consumers can understand. Inserting all the genes to generate muscle would entail inserting the genes in the fruit genome and maintaining the ability to regulate gene expression and how it changes as muscle "grows". This would include not only genes to make muscle specific proteins but also the myofibrils (muscle cells) that are present in bundles in muscle.& [...]

Answered By Terry Etherton - Dec 04, 2015

A: The question presented is not doable with today's science. Inserting the number of genes necessary to "recreate" muscle is not feasible for a number of reasons that are very complicated and not easily put in terms that consumers can understand. Inserting all the genes to generate muscle would entail inserting the genes in the fruit genome and maintaining the ability to regulate gene expression and how it changes as muscle "grows". This would include not only genes to make muscle specific proteins but also the myofibrils (muscle cells) that are present in bundles in muscle.& [...]

Question

Q: Hello. I have an idea. We need gene modify some fruit or vegetable to make it meat. I mean, gene modify this vegetable to make inside it animal protein. In this case we will have cheap meat which we can grow on garden and we wont kill animals. What do y

Answered By Terry Etherton - Dec 04, 2015

A: The question presented is not doable with today's science. Inserting the number of genes necessary to "recreate" muscle is not feasible for a number of reasons that are very complicated and not easily put in terms that consumers can understand. Inserting all the genes to generate muscle would entail inserting the genes in the fruit genome and maintaining the ability to regulate gene expression and how it changes as muscle "grows". This would include not only genes to make muscle specific proteins but also the myofibrils (muscle cells) that are present in bundles in muscle.& [...]

Answered By Terry Etherton - Dec 04, 2015

A: The question presented is not doable with today's science. Inserting the number of genes necessary to "recreate" muscle is not feasible for a number of reasons that are very complicated and not easily put in terms that consumers can understand. Inserting all the genes to generate muscle would entail inserting the genes in the fruit genome and maintaining the ability to regulate gene expression and how it changes as muscle "grows". This would include not only genes to make muscle specific proteins but also the myofibrils (muscle cells) that are present in bundles in muscle.& [...]

Question

Q: what are the alternatives to genetically modified animal feeds?

Answered By Terry Etherton - May 25, 2017

A: The only alternative is that livestock be fed feed that does not contain any GMOs. This is misleading, however, because all feedstuffs over history have evolved by classical plant breeding and genetic selection, which involved genetic modification! Thus, we have the outcomes of plant breeding (crossbreeding) and those obtained by the use of contemporary genetic enhancement (the GMO's) using powerful, precise, and advanced scientific methodologies. [...]