[Avodah] Any opinions on the kashrus of Peng Peng?

[hankman]

RMB wrote:
There are no halakhos about eating something based on its genetic makeup.
Peng Peng, like all sheep, chews her (?) cud and has split hooves. Kosher.
No?

And I don't think anything microscopic, like the genes injected into a
cell is within the scope of halachic discourse altogether.

In a similar vein RZS wrote:
What's the hava amina that he should be forbidden? He has simanei tahara,
and was born from a dam that had the same simanim, as did her dam and
her grand-dam all the way back to one of the original ewes that Hashem
created. Some of his great-great-aunts and -uncles were brought on
the Mizbeach. So why should he be anything but a beheima tehorah?

CM remarks:

My intial reaction to these responses was agreement. These responses do make sense to me. I imagine there must be many shu”ts addressed to this issue many probably using this straightforward logic. However on further thought the clarity provided began to get a little murky.

Take a hypothetical future Peng Peng II with more extensive genetic manipulation that is born looking like (being?) a Roundworm on four legs, but with split hooves and that chews its cud and has the two simonim for shechita. Would you both still stick to your logic so assuredly?

Or consider the genetic manipulation of fowl. Here the Torah basically gives us the 22 non-kosher birds, the others being kosheer. Here specie is determinative. So there are no Simanei kashrus utreifus (although some are given in shas and poskim). Then the operative question would be how much genetic manipulation could halacha tolerate before considering the result a new species?

Which brings us back to Peng Peng. when the Torah gives us the simanei tahara of split  hooves and chewing the cud it explicitly only applies to the class of chaya and beheima – not other living creatures. So we must revisit the question how much genetic manipulation would halacha tolerate before considering Peng Peng something other than a chaya or beheima. My intuition (sorry - nothing better than that) tells me we have not yet crossed that line with Peng Peng, but clearly that line exists and placing it will become a future subject for many shu”ts as this technology continues to develop.

Kol Tuv

Chaim Manaster
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