When Cyagra Inc. holds an office potluck, no one's stomach churns when the lasagna, meatloaf or tacos are made with cloned beef.
The cutting-edge ingredient was produced on the company's Pennsylvania farm for the Food and Drug Administration, which spent seven years evaluating the safety of meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring.
"We had leftovers," so we used them, said Steve Mower, director of marketing for the Elizabethtown, Pa.-based company.
Cyagra is one of three privately held biotech start-ups making clones of genetically superior livestock for thousands of dollars apiece. In the coming years, they hope the rest of the U.S. -- and the world -- will join them in dining on steaks, pork chops and ice cream derived from animals conceived in their laboratories.
After reviewing hundreds of scientific studies, the FDA concluded last week that food produced from clones and their progeny is as safe to eat as conventional fare. The agency cleared the way for meat and milk from the offspring of cloned cattle, pigs and goats to be sold at grocery stores and restaurants without any special labeling. Food from the clones themselves is expected to follow after a transition period of unspecified length.
Though consumers are skeptical about this new culinary era, Cyagra, ViaGen Inc. and Trans Ova Genetics are enthusiastic. Some had bet the farm on FDA approval and were struggling to survive as the final decision was delayed to address concerns of consumer groups, the public and some members of Congress.
Over the next five years, the market for cloned animals in the U.S. is expected to reach nearly $50 million annually, according to industry analysts. After that, the figure could grow exponentially as cloning technology improves and more ranchers and farmers decide to make copies of their most valuable animals.
"Most of these guys have been living on venture capital and were waiting nervously for the FDA to make a decision," said L. Val Giddings, a former official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture who now works as an animal science industry consultant. Now that it has, he said, the fledgling industry could finally see its first profits.
Analysts said the biggest winner probably would be industry leader ViaGen, which controls an estimated 75% of the market and recorded sales of $2.2 million in 2006.
