The point of the present study is to illustrate and, if possible, promote the existing link between genomics and ethics, taking the example of cloned and transgenic animals.These ‘new animals’ raise theoretical and practical problems that concern appliedethics. We will explore more particularly an original strategy showing that it ispossible, starting from philosophical questioning about the nature of identity, to usea genomic approach, based on amplification fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)and methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP) detection, to provideuseful tools to define more rigorously what cloned animals are, by testing their geneticand epigenetic identity. We expect from the future results of this combined approachto stimulate the creativity of the philosophical and ethical reflection about the impactof biotechnology on animals, and to increase scientific involvement in such issues.
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