CurdNerds

File this under humanity's ongoing pursuit of hubris, the New Scientist is reporting that scientists in New Zealand have created cows that have been genetically modified to produce protein-rich milk for cheesemaking. The cows are basically given extra protein-making genes, and the milk that results is up to 20% more protein enriched. And because cheese is basically fat plus protein (in the form of casein), protein enriched milk will create a higher yield of cheese.

As much as I love cheese and other dairy products, I do recognize that even in the smallest of farmstead operations, a certain amount of cow exploitation occurs. Even if the cows are treated fantastically well, the simple process of milking is, at the very least, an imposition. Simply picture human women being milked for consumption by another species, and you'll know what I'm talking about. But that kind of "exploitation" pales in comparison to what these scientists have accomplished. Animals are not technology; they are living, breathing, feeling creatures, who so generously let us live off the resources their bodies accrue. It is not within our authority, even if we have the technical means, to modify their genetic makeup to suit our purposes.