Hilchos, Cloning and Genetic Modification (GM) of Animals

The following is a comprehensive halachik discussion concerning tampering with nature by impregnating an egg with foreign matter by either using sperm from a different specie or by using genetic matter that is foreign to an egg, even if it may come from the same specie.

The Talmud discusses the halacha concerning natural births that are "freaks of nature" where one specie of animal will give birth to a different specie of animal or a bird. There are also halachik discussions relating to an ancient practice of mating a donkey with a horse producing a mule. Our concern is relating these practices to the Biblical and Rabbinical laws of the first born, dietary kosher laws, and laws concerning breeding or working with animals of different species (kiloyim). We also discuss these laws concerning these practices when they are needed to produce medicine.

The Bible prohibits crossbreeding different species of animals, birds, certain types of sea animals, and certain types of insects. The term breeding here refers to the male penetrating the female in order to release his sperm to impregnate the females eggs. According to the Zohar it is also Biblically prohibited to impregnate an egg with the sperm of a different specie, and to produce an offspring through cloning, as explained before. By manipulating the genetics of an egg the changed genetics is equal to introducing foreign matter into the egg in order to cause pregnancy. By manipulating the genetics of a sperm, the sperm is then considered foreign sperm the same as sperm from a different specie. The guidelines of permitting GM when there is a problem of genetically transmitted disease has been discussed in the chapter before titled "Artificial Insemination, IVF, Cloning, and Sperm Selection". As long as there is no destruction of embryos or sperm in the procedure to treat the problem of a genetically transmitted disease then the GM procedure is permitted through a non-jew.

The rules of what are and what are not considered different species are the same for both the prohibition of crossbreeding animals and doing work with animals of different species together, such as plowing a field or moving a carriage with two or more animals of different species. Therefore, even in cases where the prohibition of crossbreeding is not applicable due to the design of the creature, the prohibition of doing work with animals of different species is applicable. Some examples of different species are, a dog with a fox or wolf.

The Talmud discusses the law in respect to crossbreeding a horse with a donkey producing a mule, which is obviously prohibited. If the mule could reproduce then they would mix one with the other and each mule would be a descendant of a male horse and a male donkey and a female horse and a female donkey, therefore, it would be permitted to breed mules. The problem is that mules do not reproduce, therefore, any mule must be a product of a either a mule specie of a male horse and female donkey, or a mule specie of a male donkey and a female horse. These are considered two different species and cannot be crossbred, and are only permitted with their own specie, such as if both mules have a mother donkey and a father horse, or visa versa. They are not permitted with a donkey because both parents of the donkey are donkeys, and to be permitted they must come from the parents of the same species.

The rule that makes an animal kosher is that any animal that is a product of an egg of a kosher specie is kosher. The kosher signs of the animal chewing it's cud and having cloven hoofs does not make it kosher. If an animal that has these kosher signs is a product of an egg of a non-kosher animal by a freak of nature, or through GM, it is not kosher. The kosher signs simply tell us that this animal is a product of an animal that is the same specie. If in the future they will mix species, then we will no longer rely on kosher signs. The womb is not important with these laws. Therefore, if a kosher embryo was raised in the womb of a non-kosher animal, it is kosher. If a non-kosher embryo was raised in the womb of a kosher animal, it is not kosher. A cloned egg of a kosher animal is kosher as long as the offspring is subjected to the same kosher signs as the mother of the egg, even though it does not have a father. The reason is that you do not need a kosher father to be kosher, as long as it is a product of a kosher mother it is kosher.

If an animal was ritually slaughtered, then the embryo of the animal is permitted without being slaughtered. If the egg belonged to a different mother it does not become permitted with the slaughtering of the carrier mother, and if it died in the womb it is forbidden. If it leaves the womb alive it is permitted after slaughtering.

The two rules above only apply to the egg and offspring that are both the same general type of specie where the same kosher signs apply to them. In this case we divide the species by the type of kosher signs that are applicable to that specie. There are five species. Human, animal, bird, fish, grasshopper. Therefore, if an egg of an animal produces a bird with kosher signs, this bird does not become permitted in the mothers womb with the slaughtering of the mother, nor is it permitted to eat after it is born. It does not have a halachik mother and is considered a specie of its own relative to the laws of kiloyim, and cannot be bred with any other specie, and one may not do any work with it together with any other specie. This rule does not refer to a case where the embryo of a kosher bird was placed into the womb of a kosher animal and it gave birth to a bird. The womb is not important, in these cases it is simply a carrier and the bird is kosher. Furthermore, this rule applies only to the egg and not to the sperm. Therefore, if they used the sperm of a kosher bird to impregnate an egg of a deer and the form of a donkey was born, the animal is kosher, even though the sperm is from a specie that has different kosher signs than the deer, and even though the animal born does not have kosher signs. If this IVF produces a copy of the kosher father bird the bird is still forbidden because it is the offspring of the mothers egg that decides and here the offspring is of a different specie than the egg with different kosher signs.

It should be noted that if with GM they produce a human form from the egg of an animal, although it is an animal, it is Rabbinically forbidden to kill it without purpose since it resembles a human. If they impregnated a human egg with an animals sperm and placed it in the womb of a cow and it produced a form of a human, the animals womb is not a factor, but the animal sperm makes it a questionable human or animal. If they cloned a human egg the offspring is a golem.

There is a form of animal called a "Shasua" that even if it is a product of an egg of a kosher animal it is forbidden in the same way as a bird that is a product of an animals egg is forbidden, as discussed before. Rashi's definition of a Shasua is, an animal that has two backs and two spinal columns but share one body and other vital organs, therefore, it is one animal.

We must remember that with the kosher laws we cannot rely on just anyone to tell us about these phenomena, and we must be very careful on the reliability of the information given us.

In the chapter before titled "AI, IVF, Cloning, and Sperm Selection", we stated that relationships are established through egg and sperm. The mother of the child is the mother of the egg, not the birth mother, and the father of the child is the father of the sperm. Adding to the egg or subtracting from it genetic material or material from a sperm, or GM, does not give the egg any other parent, it becomes nullified to the egg. If this egg is cloned, the offspring has only a mother and no other mother or father. Furthermore, if after GM and cloning the egg of a horse produces a donkey, the mother is a horse but it has no father, then it is a specie of a horse that looks like a donkey, without a father, and is only permitted with an offspring of another cloned horse egg whether its offspring be a horse, donkey, or sheep, since their mothers are the same specie horse, it's a horse that looks like a sheep, and both do not have a father.

According to the Rambam a kosher animal or fish or bird must be a product of both a sperm and egg from a kosher specie. We may ask, what is the status of the offspring of a specie that was formed through cloning using genetic material of a non-kosher specie that was inserted into the egg of a kosher specie in order to start pregnancy. The answer is, fatherhood is only transmitted through his sperm and not through genetic material. The genetic material inserted into the egg becomes nullified to the egg the same way a transplanted organ becomes part of the body of the recipient. Therefore, it is permitted to eat tomatoes that were grown from seeds that contain genetic material from non-kosher fish because the genetic material is nullified to the seeds.

The commentary Derisha on the Tur Shulchan Aruch is of the opinion that if man will be able to produce from a kosher egg a form of animal that does not have kosher signs, it would be Rabbinically forbidden to eat it, so that one will avoid mistaking a non-kosher animal with a kosher animal. The rule with Rabbinical prohibitions is "lo p'lug Rabanan", meaning that once the Rabbis prohibited part of a group the whole group becomes prohibited. Therefore, if they prohibited to eat GM meat in the case where it produced a kosher animal that looks like a non-kosher animal, all GM meats are Rabbinically forbidden to eat. This includes GM of the egg or sperm, and cloning. This prohibition includes GM embryos in the mothers womb after the mother has been ritually slaughtered.

The guidelines for eating GM meat as a cure for a non-life threatening serious illness are as follows. If there is a kosher medicine available he must try that medicine first. A medicine that was derived from a non-kosher source that was made into a pill to swallow is now considered kosher, because it is not fit to eat, and not eaten but swallowed. Therefore, if the GM meat was made into this type of medicine it is kosher. If there is no alternative medicine available, and the GM meat is Biblically permitted, and was ritually slaughtered, and cannot be made into a medicine, then it is permitted. In these cases the Rabbinical supervision must be from the GM until after the slaughtering to be sure that there are no mix ups with non-kosher things.

next | previous |  table of contents