This episode continues to delve into the interesting, and sometimes controversial, world of animal cloning, this time in the farm setting. If you haven’t already listened to the first part of this two-part cloning segment, we recommend checking this one out first!

The episode features a conversation with Peter Stevenson, Chief Policy Advisor of Compassion in World Farming, a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organization. Peter provides us with expert insight into the state of farm animal cloning, its current usage, and the ethical issues surrounding it.

The process of cloning farm animals involves creating a genetically identical copy of an existing animal. While this may sound like a scientific marvel, Peter warns us that cloning animals in a factory farm setting, while already quite common, has many ethical concerns. This includes the welfare of the cloned animals, their ability to live a healthy life, and the potential for genetic defects. For example, “the problem with disease resistance is, if you've got a cloned herd, they're all by definition genetically identical. And so if a disease gets into that farm, it's going to spread like wildfire”, he says.

At the end of the episode, our executive producer Mundi Vondi and John visit Dorrit Moussaieff (remember her from the previous episode?). Over a round of drinks, the three discuss Dorrit’s experience cloning her beloved dog Samur in detail.

At the heart of this episode is the ethical debate surrounding farm animal cloning. Should we continue to use this technology as an extension and potential improvement of traditional breeding, despite the ethical concerns it raises? What are the ethics around applying cloning techniques to humans? Where does innovation end and manipulation begin?

Tune in to hear the episode in full and decide where you stand in the debate! You can find the episode at The Life Cycle’s website or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss an episode!