The Panda Cow: Why Have We Bothered?

Have we already gone too far with our genetic engineering?

Sure, it's all well and good to try to make sure that people don't die of dread diseases, but I think I have to draw the line at the panda cow.

Yep, it's a cow that looks like a panda (not the other way round — that would be worse). It was born in the wilds of northern Colorado, to a farmer who makes a living rearing tiny animals. The farmer counts mini cattle and a smallish kangaroo among his possessions — along with Ben.

Ben is the cow — a Lowline Angus, to be precise — and Ben was genetically engineered. Check out the photo. Little Ben really does look like a panda, with the white stripe round his lower body and his white face punctuated by black hair round the eyes.

Why do this? Well, the farmer isn't after fame and fortune, really, although he would gladly take the estimated $30,000 that such a cow would bring in, if someone was keen enough to buy such a thing.

I guess we can take comfort that, according to research scientists, only 24 such animals exist in the world. That's probably a good number. A total of 24,000 might be a bit much, as certainly 240,000 would be. The novelty would wear off, for a start. Then there's the confusion of teaching children what cows look like and what pandas look like. Usually, there's a difference. (It's sort of the same with fire engines nowadays — many of those are no longer fire engine red but are a sort of lime green.)

I feel fairly certain that the farmer would take the money if it were offered to him. But why are scientists doing this sort of thing? This kind of genetic engineering seems to have no obvious external benefit; any internal benefits are no evident or are being kept very quiet. Is it for the same reason that people climb Mount Everest: "Because it was there"? If that is the case, then that's not good enough.

Pandas are bears. Cows are not. Enough said.