Frankenfish
Today on the PBS NewsHour, a story about genetically modified salmon (FDA allows genetically engineered 'Frankenfish' salmon to be imported to US). I'm a vegetarian and don't eat fish anyway, but I am against genetically modified animals and plants for a whole bunch of reasons, and I'm not alone ....
I had to laugh as I listened to a part of the video in which the producers of the modified salmon go on about how safe the process is ... how they can't escape into a nearby river and couldn't mate with normal salmon even if they did, etc. That is exactly the line of reasoning of the scientists who created the genetically modified dinosaurs in the novel Jurassic Park. If these salmon creators are mistaken, at least they probably won't have to worry about their creations eating them ;)
I had to laugh as I listened to a part of the video in which the producers of the modified salmon go on about how safe the process is ... how they can't escape into a nearby river and couldn't mate with normal salmon even if they did, etc. That is exactly the line of reasoning of the scientists who created the genetically modified dinosaurs in the novel Jurassic Park. If these salmon creators are mistaken, at least they probably won't have to worry about their creations eating them ;)
posted by crystal | 7:15 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah, why do we even need genetically modified food? I'm not against fish farming, I think it can take the pressure off the wild populations. But they don't have to be genetically modified. And lab grown meat just sounds gross.
It is disturbing on a number of levels. I thought fisheries were big outdoor places in more natural settings, not a bunch of fish in small indoor pools - seems kind of cruel. And the nonchalance of the scientists in the PBS segment was almost scary, given that I don't believe they really have any idea what effect their work will have (aside from the ka-ching factor). And we consumers should at least have the benefit of labels on modified food so we can decide for ourselves. The bad guys in the Jurassic Park book were thrilled by one thing - the idea that if they created modified animals, those animals would have no rights because they would be just wholly owned products.
I have read that the Polynesians in Hawaii did some fish farming. But theirs were open air ponds. That seems more humane. Agree about the right to have truth in labeling so people can decide for themselves.
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