Something Fishy?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreagp/1122613434/sizes/m/
"Salmon"--Andrea Pokrzywinski

My family eats fish. Just about every week during the summer my family will tucker into a nice big dish of swimming critters. Sometimes it’s a tuna steak (no not the red thing that everyone is picturing in their mind), or grouper, or trout, or some other gilled creature. But more often than not, we’re munching on salmon.

So when I read about the development of genetically modified salmon that is being marketed for human consumption, my interest was more than piqued. According to the Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post, the company AquAdvantage Salmon is having its new genetically modified salmon evaluated by the FDA to determine whether or not it is fit for human consumption.

The whole genetically modified part relates to the time it takes for these salmon to grow. Using the genes of the pout fish (which the Washington Post describes as “eel-like”) and the Chinook salmon, this new type of salmon develops at twice the rate as a regular Atlantic salmon.

This will prove to be a watershed moment in the history of food as many other food-engineering companies are watching the FDA’s decision. Other genetically modified animals in the works include the “Enviropig” whose waste is eco-friendly and a cow that is impervious to mad cow disease. In competition with the Enviropig is Apple’s iPig which will have 4G capabilities, the ability to engage in “Facetime” with other cool, hip pigs, and 3 earthy flesh tones to pick from.

That’s a joke (and a bad one while we’re at it) but it underscores objections to the introduction of genetically modified animals. Scientists fear what will occur if these fish escape into the ocean and spread their Dr. Frankenstein’s biology project genes with other fish. Others object because a large portion of the FDA evaluation is occurring in private.

On the flips side, these animals have the capability of increasing the food supply and (this is purely supposition) won’t we be using less growth hormone to make these animals grow faster? Wouldn’t this be the more, and I hate to use the word, natural solution?

Weigh in with what you think

Shockley