Tuesday - September 21, 2010

Be Afraid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Massachusetts company wants to market a genetically engineered version of Atlantic salmon, and regulators are weighing the request. If approval is given, it would be the first time the government allowed such modified animals to join the foods that go onto the nation’s dinner tables.

Ron Stotish, chief executive of AquaBounty, said at Monday’s first of two days of hearings that his company’s fish product is safe and environmentally sustainable.

Food and Drug Administration officials have largely agreed with him, saying that the salmon, which grows twice as fast as its conventional “sisters,” is as safe to eat as the traditional variety. But they have not yet decided whether to approve the request.

Critics call the modified salmon a “frankenfish” that could cause allergies in humans and the eventual decimation of the wild salmon population. An FDA advisory committee is reviewing the science of the genetically engineered fish this week and hearing such criticisms as the agency ponders approval.

Whether the public will have an appetite for it is another matter. Genetic engineering is already widely used for crops, but the government until now has not considered allowing the consumption of modified animals. Although the potential benefits — and profits — are huge, many people have qualms about manipulating the genetic code of other living creatures.

Genetically engineered — or GE — animals are not clones, which the FDA has already said are safe to eat. Clones are copies of an animal. With GE animals, the DNA has been altered to produce a desirable characteristic.

In the case of the salmon, AquaBounty has added a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce their growth hormone all year long. The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout that acts like an on switch for the hormone, according to the company. Conventional salmon produce the growth hormone only some of the time.

Hey, what the heck. Grow them on farms in the middle of the prairie. No live ungutted fish can leave the premises; no eggs would be released into the wild. But the MSM wants you to be afraid of everything all the time, so this is the big fear story for today. So take note, and immediately look at what Obama is up to! These fear stories are often used as smoke screens.

OTOH, should they meet by accident and a few cocktails, it’s likely that an Atlantic salmon could breed with a Chinook salmon. The Chinook is a fish that likes really cold water, as is the Ocean Pout. Both those fish grow all the time. Chinook salmon, which can reach 100lb, are just as conventional as any other salmon, they’re just a bit rarer. Chinook have been introduced into the Great Lakes, the waters of Patagonia, and lakes in New Zealand. And no tales of evil blood-sucking vampire salmon have come from any of those places. Probably because there were no survivors!!!

Posted by Drew458     on 09/21/2010 at 11:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Animals • Media-Bias •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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