Cockroach Rights

Last month our friend Shri Viswamitra was religiously fighting for mice and rats that are used in pharma research.
Now the research world is talking about cockroach milk.Does it look funny?

A little cockroach milk with those cookies?Full of protein, the insect milk may someday be transformed into a food supplement worthy of human consumption, new research indicates.

Scientists have discovered that a special species of cockroach' the Pacific Beetle Cockroach' feeds its bug babies a formula which is remarkably rich in protein, fat and sugar.
It may take a few years to find'cockroach milk' in the dairy section of Departmental Stores.It might have a stylish name unconnected with cockroach.
"Any liquid harvested from a cockroach is not true milk. At least not as we think of it," said a director of museum in US.
Most people would agree. After all, the insect liquid takes the form of protein crystals in the guts of baby cockroaches.
The protein crystals are milk for the cockroach infant. It is important for its growth and development.It is said that the crystals have a whopping three times the energy of an equivalent mass of buffalo milk, about four times the equivalent of cow's milk.

The cockroach is one of the hardiest creatures on the planet; it can live for a month without food.
Actually the research is conducted in Crysallography lab.
This is the only species of cockroach known to be viviparous -- able to bring forth live babies that have developed within the mother's body, instead of the mother laying eggs to develop outside her body.
Like other viviparous creatures, this species of cockroach nourishes its growing embryos with a protein-rich liquid secreted by its brood sac -- the semblance uterus.

Crystal cockroach milk.
Soon after the embryo ingests the liquid, protein crystals develop within its midgut. These crystals have been examined thoroughly for the nutritional value and it has been found to be a complete food. It contains proteins, amino acids lipids and sugars-the essential ingredients of a food in total.
The energy content is so high that it helps infants within this unique species grow much bigger than cockroach babies of other species.
Though the crystal formation may seem surprising, other crystals, including insulin, take shape within the body for easier bodily storage -- and it could have potential for human consumption, the research suggests.
So, how do you milk a cockroach?
The crystals are currently extracted from the midgut of cockroach embryos -- perhaps not the most efficient way of feeding a growing world population.
A bio engineering process may be required to milk a cockroach.
The research scholars have tasted a bit of this cockroach milk and say it tastes like ice cream with honey.
Our mind refuses to link the two facts-the cockroches that are moving freely around the drains and toilets and a milk food that is labelled healthy and nutricious.But the insect that can survive a nuclear war may someday provide liquid super tasty food.
I don't know Animal/insect activists may lift the banner in support of cockroaches too.
The world is advancing so much that we may one day accept the fact that the specimens whom we hate to see move around our baths ,will be accorded a warm welcome among mothers.

Normally even women ,branded bold and courageous scream at the sight of cockroches and women's intolerance is often quoted as example of difference between'react and respond'.
Can we expect womenfolk, at least after ten years, to 'respond' positively to cockroach milk that may may have a good shelf life and may possess a fanciful brand name as' CR milk'-to denote either cockroach or'confidentially ranked' milk product.

Once it reaches the dairy section all stories about cockroach will vanish giving rise to super fine healthy smiling babies on the cover.

Jayasala 42

 

Thanks RGS, Pushpa, Kamalji, Parineetha, Akanksha ,Shobamma and Satchitananda for your kind responses.
I wonder how Research spreads its wings .After some 15 years when young mothers have a healthy baby food in tins and packs, the roach story would have gone to the background.
Many of the milk sweets are covered with a silvery wrapper and are eaten with delight by all of us. There was a TV show how these thin silver sheets are made.The essential content is the pig intestine which is subject to so many changes until it is transformed into a thin sheet.
Why talk of sweets? All the capsules ine pharmaveutical farms are made of animal skins alone till date and vegetarian capsule is costly and a rarity.
Jayasala 42