Hobbies And Interests
Quality of Life
Animals that have been bred with deliberate genetic defects may cause undo suffering and hardship on the animal's part. Genetic modifications that introduce cancer and other pandemic diseases into the animal's system will have lasting affects on the animal's health for ever how long it survives. In some cases, the animal dies as a result of the application. Mice bred to produce cancer, for instance, can suffer prolonged periods of suffering due to the lengthy and extended research that must be performed until all available data has been obtained. Defects cause major behavioral changes in the animal, as well as allow suffering.
Alteration of the Natural Order
Morality issues can arise (and have arisen) when religious groups and animal rights activists declare that the deliberate manipulation of DNA has a negative impact on the natural order of the universe. The arguments stem from the fact that a higher authority, be it God or nature, is the true architect of all life on Earth and that man is meddling in territory where he has no right or profound knowledge of true creation.
Accountability
Concerns remain about the experimental procedures and the outcome. The manipulation of DNA and the genetic genome have not been thoroughly perfected. Experiments consist of tests, followed by reaction and observation. The end results can never be determined or even accurately approximated because the inroads to biotechnology are so diverse and unexplored. Experimental mistakes and inaccurate data could well be a drawback until exact expectations and more accurate data has been accumulated.The negative issue involves no accountability and blind scientific practices.
Exploitation
The pharmaceutical industry has prompted the exploitation of a large and growing range of animals. Transgenic chickens with the parathyroid hormone have been bred for the treatment of osteoporosis. Cattle have been used to birth calves that have super-elevated anti-bacterial levels of protein. A human blood clotting factor has been created at the expense of using the milk from pigs. Human lysozyme has been produced and recovered from transgenic goats. Virtually any animal that could withstand testing and produce results has been used in profuse quantities.
Security and Control
The possibility of loss of transgenic animals to the wild can have a major, negative impact on the environment and natural ecosystem. Animals that carry genetic defects, pathogens, viruses and bacteria pose a serious threat to other animals and even plant life. Genetically altered animals that interbreed or crossbreed with other species can create hybrids and mutations that can infect entire species gene pools, leading to decimation and possibly isolated extinctions. It would only take one pregnant female to start a change reaction of out-of-control breeding; the impact could be very swift and final.
Consumption Concerns
Mutations in the host genome have been linked to many species of transgenic animals. Serious health impacts have been evidenced in transgenic food and feed. The Austrian government formed a commission that found that transgenic corn, when given to mice, had a negative impact on several of the animals' fertility cycles inside of one generation. Thorough studies and investigations have not been performed on the impacts of transgenic animals used for human consumption. The results of ingesting genetically altered animal protein need safety measures and insurances before any sales to the public are realized.