Salmon steak from GM fish could soon be on your plate
87 replies, posted
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[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65370000/jpg/_65370229_fish.jpg[/IMG]
Comparison of GM salmon and a non-GM salmon (foreground) of the same age[/quote][B]
Biologists believe they are on the cusp of producing the first genetically modified fish fit for human consumption. But what effects might it have on the world's ecosystems?
[/B]Sitting by a tiny ice hole on Prince Edward Island in Canada, Joey Gauthier suddenly jolts forward.
His rod dips. Seconds later, a fish emerges from the depths of the freezing waters below.
"Gotcha!" shouts the fisherman, as he puts the catch in a bucket.
What Mr Gauthier does not know is that not far away, bigger fish are in the making.
US biotechnology firm AquaBounty is at work in Canada harvesting eggs from genetically modified Atlantic salmon. Once grown (in onshore tanks based far away in Panama) the AquAdvantage salmon will look like their natural cousins, but reach full size in half the time.
AquaBounty has been working for 17 years to get approval for the fish to reach your dinner table. Now it's getting close.
The US food regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has just declared that transgenic AquAdvantage salmon have "no significant impact", which is usually the last step before the final approval.
If it comes, the salmon will become the first genetically modified (GM) animal approved for human consumption.
There is still a brief period to voice objections, but Dr David Edwards of the Biotechnology Industry Organization is certain of the outcome: "From my read of the review it looks like it should be approved."
The AquAdvantage salmon, reared from the eggs of wild Atlantic salmon, sports some extra genes from the Pacific Chinook salmon and an eel, the ocean pout. Together they make the fish grow faster and all-year round.
As with all GM animal research, there are concerns. The Atlantic Salmon Federation, for example, fears the fish could get into the wild, start breeding and disturb the ecosystem.
According to Aqua Bounty, the engineered salmon are all female, sterile, and raised in physically contained facilities, so the chance of the fish breeding in the wild is negligible.
While AquaBounty was waiting for FDA approval, other researchers around the world have been tinkering with animals' genes, to produce food, medicines, materials, improve livestock or create better pets.
Four years ago, the FDA approved the first human biological drug produced from a transgenic animal, a goat.
There are also transgenic cows with human genes that produce milk similar to human breast milk and GM goats that produce a protein in their milk that can be spun into a spider silk thread.
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Glowing fish
[/B]One GM animal that has made it into many homes is the fluorescent fish.
It was first produced more than a decade ago by scientists in Singapore and Taiwan. The plan was to insert a natural fluorescence gene from a sea coral into fish embryos - and the fish were to glow in the presence of environmental toxins, to detect pollution.
But Taiwanese company Taikong Corp quickly spotted the market opportunity and began to sell glowing medoka fish for use in aquariums - Taiwan was first to approve the sale of GM animals as pets.
A US-based firm partnered with the Singaporean researchers to market GloFish - fluorescent zebrafish.
The firm's founder Alan Blake says that there has been huge interest from consumers.
"The fish are sold everywhere - people love them. We've now got a variety of different colours - red, green, orange, blue, purple - and besides zebrafish, we also sell fluorescent tetras and tiger barbs," he says.
Even though it's been some time since the fish was created, no other genetically modified pets have appeared on the market.
"Ten years ago, people were saying that selling fluorescent fish was going to open the door to who knows what, but it hasn't," says Mr Blake.
"Here we are 10 years later, and although there are GM animals [including cats] with fluorescent genes for medical purposes, for instance to detect cancer, I don't anticipate that we will see fluorescent cats, dogs and other pets - and whether people would want them."
Although there have been attempts to create hypoallergenic cats, so far there has not been much proof the research has been successful, adds Mr Blake.
[B]
Disease-resistant pets
[/B]Instead, biotech firms could pursue making pets resistant to diseases, he predicts.
In agriculture, this is already happening. It's driven by economics. In the UK alone, the cost of livestock contracting infectious diseases has been £15bn over the past 10 years, says Prof Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute, based in Edinburgh and famous for cloning Dolly the sheep.
Vaccination is the main defence against infectious disease, but for some diseases this does not work.
"There's considerable scientific research into animal disease and leading this effort is research into animal genetics, and huge advances have been achieved recently," says Prof Whitelaw.
There are projects to develop chickens that do not transmit bird flu, pigs that are resistant to African swine fever and cattle that can't catch African sleeping sickness.
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) believes that GM could indeed help tackle global challenges such as food security, climate change and sustainability of agriculture, but insists that safeguarding human health will always take "top priority".
Animal rights group Peta, however, says that "genetic modification only contributes to the cruelty already inflicted on animals raised for food and used in experimentation".
Back home on Prince Edward Island, Joey Gauthier says: "So, they're genetically engineering fish now, huh - I don't think I like the idea, because what will the fisherman do if all the fish is made in a lab?
"On the other hand, if it were to get out of the inland tanks and into the wild, I guess I wouldn't even know it's not a real Atlantic salmon.
"I would just be happy I've caught a big fish!"
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[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21078731]BBC[/url]
Now find a way to make yellow perch 15x their normal size[walleye don't count].
Food should be eaten natural as your body is able to break it down (better). While this is maybe amazing I can't help but get the feeling that "food"(processed/modified) like this is a direct cause to most of health problems.
EDIT: [b]bunch of sheep[/b] [sp]Processed foods are not essentially healthy and the fact that I merely suggest something and get lots of negative feedback only goes to show the lack of common sense.[/sp]
[QUOTE=Aide;39326108]Food should be eaten natural as your body is able to break it down (better). While this is maybe amazing I can't help but get the feeling that "food"(processed/modified) like this is a direct cause to most of health problems.[/QUOTE]
Well there's nothing natural about cooking food, and we do that to help us process it.
[QUOTE=Aide;39326108]Food should be eaten natural as your body is able to break it down (better). While this is maybe amazing I can't help but get the feeling that "food"(processed/modified) like this is a direct cause to most of health problems.[/QUOTE]
You are wrong.
[QUOTE=Aide;39326108]Food should be eaten natural as your body is able to break it down (better). While this is maybe amazing I can't help but get the feeling that "food"(processed/modified) like this is a direct cause to most of health problems.[/QUOTE]
uhm
how do you know
are you a doctor? any research to support your wild claim?
And of course the obligatory remark by PETA.
[QUOTE]Animal rights group Peta, however, says that "genetic modification only contributes to the cruelty already inflicted on animals raised for food and used in experimentation".[/QUOTE]
Don't really have a problem with this, as long as it's advertised as genetically modified.
I really don't get this ridiculous stigma against gm food. People don't seem to realize the immense amount of testing the food has to go through before it is even allowed to exist in countries like America. They also don't seem to realize that this kind of fear-mongering has directly resulted in starvation as quite a few countries suffering famine have banned the food.
well, I personally'd rather have cheap GM salmon than rare-ass, expensive salmon.
Any potential paranoia or downsides of "GM" would be offset by the fact that salmon would be goddamn cheap.
[Quote]According to Aqua Bounty, the engineered salmon are all female, sterile, and raised in physically contained facilities, so the chance of the fish breeding in the wild is negligible[/quote]
[I]"Welcome, to Salmon Park."[/I]
Not entirely certain what people believe is going to be in GM meat. It gets cooked, which will kill most things anyways, and it isn't exactly rocket science to test it for trace chemicals that may be harmful.
If the animal is naturally more resistant to infection or grows quicker then you are getting LESS growth hormones and antibiotics in your meat too. Less chemicals and a cheaper product? Yes please.
[QUOTE=fishyfish777;39326180]well, I personally'd rather have cheap GM salmon than rare-ass, expensive salmon.
Any potential paranoia or downsides of "GM" would be offset by the fact that salmon would be goddamn cheap.[/QUOTE]
The one good thing is that if it proves just as good as normal salmon, people will purchase the GMO one, but if someone believes wild salmon tastes better, it'll make the price of wild salmon skyrocket, and therefore allow fishermen to fish for less salmon to get their daily quota.
I really hope this salmon will be cheaper. I absolutely love salmon, but over here a relatively small package of it costs 3,50 Euro or so, and I live on a small student budget. :(
-snip-
I didn't read this right. Genetically modified fish are okay with me. They're just bigger fish. No complaints there.
Honestly, we're not going to be able to support the growing population very easy on the current foods we have without forms of GM. If they're made safely and well enough, which they have to go through a lot to be deemed as such then I see no problem.
Without a great deal of work, super crops that have allowed inflated populations that we see today would have never existed.
I'm not sure if eating bugs is an option due to just how many we'd need to even remotely cover needs which would no doubt damage ecosystems as much as anything else so I'm pretty sure a form of GM will have to be made to fit needs in almost every category.
[QUOTE=OvB;39326206][I]"Welcome, to Salmon Park."[/I][/QUOTE]
Clever girl.
[QUOTE=Aide;39326108]Food should be eaten natural as your body is able to break it down (better).[/QUOTE]
Yeah for some food its worse, even a health risk.
[QUOTE=GunFox;39326220]Not entirely certain what people believe is going to be in GM meat. It gets cooked, which will kill most things anyways, and it isn't exactly rocket science to test it for trace chemicals that may be harmful.
If the animal is naturally more resistant to infection or grows quicker then you are getting LESS growth hormones and antibiotics in your meat too. Less chemicals and a cheaper product? Yes please.[/QUOTE]
You don't cook salmon though. Well you can, but raw salmon with salt is best.
Why are people still complaining about GM food? Its been around for god knows how long. Just enjoy the fucking food will you. Its still going to taste the same, if not better.
[QUOTE=shian;39326857]Why are people still complaining about GM food? Its been around for god knows how long. Just enjoy the fucking food will you. Its still going to taste the same, if not better.[/QUOTE]
While I don't mind GM foods, this is a terrible outlook on things. It's not about the taste, it's about all the modifications that people are scared of because they could be problematic for our health.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;39326841]You don't cook salmon though. Well you can, but raw salmon with salt is best.[/QUOTE]
Smoked salmon is hnnnng
Best way to have salmon in my experience is well cut nigiri sushi style
or double smoked over apple wood and hickory
or a salmon steak with a scallion and vodka cream sauce
[QUOTE=Da_Maniac_;39327253]Smoked salmon is hnnnng[/QUOTE]
Oh god I need some now. That shit is just amazing.
[QUOTE=Boxbot219;39326173]I really don't get this ridiculous stigma against gm food. People don't seem to realize the immense amount of testing the food has to go through before it is even allowed to exist in countries like America. They also don't seem to realize that this kind of fear-mongering has directly resulted in starvation as quite a few countries suffering famine have banned the food.[/QUOTE]
Obligatory
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIvNopv9Pa8[/media]
[QUOTE=Aide;39326108]Food should be eaten natural as your body is able to break it down (better). While this is maybe amazing I can't help but get the feeling that "food"(processed/modified) like this is a direct cause to most of health problems.[/QUOTE]
Good luck eating natural bananas.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Inside_a_wild-type_banana.jpg/319px-Inside_a_wild-type_banana.jpg[/img]
I've always compared this to breeding prize bulls with prize cows to get offspring that produce the best quality meat and the highest yield of it except i guess this way is just a shortcut. I'd happily eat GM meat if it's cheaper and the same quality, couldn't care less if its against gods will or it's unnatural
[QUOTE=Aide;39326108]Food should be eaten natural as your body is able to break it down (better). While this is maybe amazing I can't help but get the feeling that "food"(processed/modified) like this is a direct cause to most of health problems.[/QUOTE]
Why would gm food be harder to break down?
I thought this was originally about somebody finding a fish that was used in a gmod map
gm_fish
[QUOTE=FlashFireSix;39327685]I thought this was originally about somebody finding a fish that was used in a gmod map
gm_fish[/QUOTE]
I thought General Motors was breeding fish
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;39326072][url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21078731]BBC[/url]
Now find a way to make yellow perch 15x their normal size[walleye don't count].[/QUOTE]
look up Jumbo Perch lake of the woods
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