People never cease to amaze me. This statement can be applied to the many wonderful things people do on a daily basis, but it can also be applied to the horrible. In this case I’m referring to the completely moronic.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of the general consumption of meat and milk from cloned animals — a revolutionary milestone in the world of biotechnology. But numerous polls show that the majority of people are repulsed by the idea of eating a cloned animal.

Are you kidding me? People will gladly accept the sale of a cancer stick that sends burning ash straight to the lungs, but show resistance. The process that has shown no comparative risk compared to the consumption of “natural” animals? Unbelievable!

The simple reason for this irrational fear stems from basic ignorance — ignorance of what cloning actually is, the cloning process and what incredible benefits may come from its use.

There is nothing supernatural about a cloned animal. The only difference between it and a “normal” animal is that the DNA for the cloned animal is derived completely from a single parent. The nucleus of a cell from a parent is implanted in an egg cell, which is then placed into a surrogate mother so that the fetus can develop and grow.

After that, the animal is born the old fashion way and goes on to lead the life of any other animal — the only difference being that its DNA sequence is the same as its parent, which essentially makes it a younger “identical twin” of the parent. Basically man-aided asexual reproduction occurs (a process many animal species undergo naturally).

That’s it.

Despite popular belief, the clone doesn’t have extra limbs and can’t shoot lasers from its eyes. But somehow people still seem to believe that by consuming anything related to one of these late-developed twins, they will end up like one of the zombie creatures in I Am Legend.

Although these fears come from ignorance, they are fueled by uninformed interest groups who prey on the fearful. They push for the mandatory labeling of food that use no biotechnological advances to improve their product, using buzzwords like “organic” to create a false sense of security.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: organic simply means “living.” All meat and dairy products (cloned or otherwise) are “organic.” The use of such a word to differentiate one from the other is nothing short of ridiculous.

Furthermore, this stupidity promotes the sci-fi association with the word “clone.” Just saying it provokes an image of a mad scientist in a lab with beakers full of bubbling chemicals and jars of experiments gone wrong.

The most frustrating part about these frivolous campaigns is that they impede the progress of both the agricultural and biotechnological industries by discouraging consumers from using technologies that will benefit both customer and seller.

Biotechnology can be used to vastly improve products and further streamline an industry that is trying to prepare for the future. Technologies such as cloning and genetic engineering can make our food increasingly rich in nourishment while simultaneously reducing the risk of certain food-related diseases.

The bottom line is that the use of cloned animals for food is the next step toward improving the health and industry of our collective food sources. So save the future — eat a clone.

[Reach columnist Jeff Dickson at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.]