BBC

Monday, 21 May, 2001, 14:49 GMT 15:49 UK GM meat '10 years away'

It is mice that are most often modified in the lab By BBC science correspondent Christine McGourty

Meat from genetically modified farm animals could be on sale in the UK in 10 years, scientists said on Monday.

The researchers argued that GM animals would be no different to those reared today on organic farms, which had been altered by selective breeding over thousands of years.

The technology to produce GM sausages and bacon already existed, they said, but the regulatory processes meant it would take a decade to prove the meat was safe to eat.

The scientists, who have published a report for the Royal Society, the UK's academy of sciences, also downplayed the notion that laboratories were going to create freakish new creatures for so-called "Frankenfarms".

The report said genetic modification could actually improve the welfare of farm animals and was essential for research into human diseases such as cancer, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), May 21, 2001