Is cloning food/animals cheaper than the actual real thing?

Question

(example) how much would it cost to clone chicken, and how much will it cost normally.

Answer 1

Right now cloned food is more expensive, but in the long run, with mass production, it'll definitely become cheaper.

Answer 2

I really don't think a scientist would come on yahoo answers and answer that. Why? Because they don't know yet. If they did and it was cheaper, you can bet your bottom dollar the most available food would be cloned food. Hybridized food has been on the market for years. I think there are only 4 or 5 fruits or veggies they haven't gotten to yet. It's scary that they would clone animals for meat. makes me very glad I'm vegetarian.  

Answer 3

Cloning is more expensive, most of the clones aren't viable, so a lot of wasted effort into food that can't be harvested. If there was such a food that they could Genetically Modify to get a, say 1000% increase in yield, then it might be cheaper if the Gm food would have offspring that were less viable than the clones

Answer 4

Right now cloning food, plants and animals is much more expensive than 'the natural way.'  But that is changing.

Within the last 20 years orchid producers have found ways to clone some orchids, very expensive ornamental plants (and very 'simple' plants).  The successful clones can not be distinguished from the natural plants (except by lab comparison of the orchids to their source material).  This has upset the whole industry and ruined the traditional pricing schemes.  The clones can be sold at a fraction of the cost of the naturally reproduced plants.  Traditional growers are constantly lobbying to prohibit the clones, the buyers of course love the clones.

SOmething similar will happen first in the food plant industry and eventually the food animal industry.  It may not be soon but its is inevitable.

Chicken meat can be massed produced at around 40 cents per pound and produce a profit (the number is always changing), cloning a chicken would cost thousands of dollars per pound right now but many different companies are working on how to clone palatable meat.  They must see a chance for profit within a reasonable length of time or they would not be investing so much money now.

Answer 5

No it is not cheaper. Cloning also involves the growth costs, maintenance costs, etc. not forgetting the cloning costs. In normal costs these are the same without the cloning costs. So cloning is not cheaper, maybe equal sometimes.