c*******t
发帖数: 345 | 1 Future of genetically-modified salmon in doubt
Genetically Engineered Salmon Transgenic Atlantic salmon called AquAdvantage
grow at twice the rate of their natural counterparts. These fish are the
same age. AquaBounty
WASHINGTONSalmon that has been genetically modified to grow twice as fast as
normal could soon show up on American dinner plates. That is, if the
company that makes the fish can stay afloat.
After weathering concerns about everything from the safety of humans eating
the salmon to their impact on the environment, Aquabounty was poised to
become the world's first company to sell fish whose DNA has been altered to
speed up growth.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2010 concluded that Aquabounty's
salmon was as safe to eat as the traditional variety. The agency also said
that there's little chance that the salmon could escape and breed with wild
fish, which could disrupt the fragile relationships between plants and
animals in nature. But more than two years later the FDA has not approved
the fish, and Aquabounty is running out of money.
"It's threatening our very survival," says Ron Stotish, chief executive of
the company. "We only have enough money to survive until January 2013, so we
have to raise more. But the unexplained delay has made raising money very
difficult."
The FDA says it's still working on the final piece of its review, a report
on the potential environmental impact of the salmon that must be published
for comment before an approval can be issued. That means a final decision
could be months, even years away. While the delay could mean that the faster
-growing salmon will never wind up on dinner tables, there's more at stake
than seafood.
Aquabounty is the only U.S. company publicly seeking approval for a
genetically-modified animal that i's raised to be eaten by humans. And
scientists worry that its experience with the FDA's lengthy review process
could discourage other U.S. companies from investing in animal biotechnology
, or the science of manipulating animal DNA to produce a desirable trait.
That would put the U.S. at a disadvantage at a time when China, India and
other foreign governments are pouring millions of dollars each year into the
potentially lucrative field that could help reduce food costs and improve
food safety.
Already, biotech scientists are changing their plans to avoid getting stuck
in FDA-related regulatory limbo. Researchers at the University of California
, Davis have transferred an experimental herd of genetically-engineered
goats that produce protein-enriched milk to Brazil, due to concerns about
delays at the FDA. And after investors raised concerns about the slow pace
of the FDA's Aquabounty review, Canadian researchers in April pulled their
FDA application for a biotech pig that would produce environmentally-
friendly waste.
"The story of Aquabounty is disappointing because everyone was hoping the
company would be a clear signal that genetic modification in animals is now
acceptable in the U.S.," said Professor Helen Sang, a geneticist at the
University of Edinburgh in Scotland who is working to develop genetically
modified chickens that are resistant to bird flu. "Because it's gotten so
bogged down - and presumably cost AquaBounty a huge amount of money - I
think people will be put off."
Against the current
The science behind genetic modification is not new. Biotech scientists say
that genetic manipulation is a proven way to reduce disease and enrich
plants and animals, raising productivity and increasing the global food
supply. Genetically modified corn, cotton and soybeans account for more than
four-fifths of those crops grown in the U.S., according to the National
Academies of Sciences.
But there have always been critics who are wary of tinkering with the genes
of living animals. They say the risk is too great that modified organisms
can escape into the wild and breed with native species. Not that we don't
already eat genetically altered animals. Researchers say the centuries-old
practice of selective breeding is its own form of genetic engineering,
producing the plumper cows, pigs and poultry we eat today.
"You drive a hybrid car because you want the most efficient vehicle you can
have. So why wouldn't you want the most efficient agriculture you can have?"
asks Alison Van Eenennaam, a professor of animal science at University of
California, Davis.
Aquabounty executives say their aim is to make the U.S. fish farming
industry, or aquaculture, more efficient, environmentally friendly and
profitable. After all, the U.S. imports about 86 percent of its seafood, in
part, because it has a relatively small aquaculture industry. Aquaculture
has faced pushback in the U.S. because of concerns about pollution from
large fish pens in the ocean, which generate fish waste and leftover food.
Aquabounty executives figure that the U.S. aquaculture industry can be
transformed by speeding up the growth of seafood. The company picked
Atlantic salmon because they are the most widely-consumed salmon in the U.S.
and are farmed throughout the world: In 2010, the U.S. imported more than
200,000 tons of Atlantic salmon, worth over $1.5 billion, from countries
like Norway, Canada and Chile.
Using gene-manipulating technology, Aquabounty adds a growth hormone to the
Atlantic salmon from another type of salmon called the Chinook. The process,
company executives say, causes its salmon to reach maturity in about two
years, compared with three to four years for a conventional salmon.
Aquabounty executives say if their fish are approved for commercial sale,
there are several safeguards designed to prevent the fish from escaping and
breeding with wild salmon. The salmon are bred as sterile females. They also
are confined to pools where the potential for escape would be low: The
inland pens are isolated from natural bodies of water.
And the company says that these pens would be affordable thanks to the fast-
growing nature of Aquabounty's fish, which allows farmers to raise more
salmon in less time. Overall, the company estimates that it would cost 30
percent less to grow its fish than traditional salmon.
Tough sale
But getting the fish to market hasn't been easy.
The company began discussions with the FDA in 1993. But the agency did not
yet have a formal system for reviewing genetically-modified food animals.
So Aquabounty spent the next decade conducting more than two dozen studies
on everything from the molecular structure of the salmon's DNA to the
potential allergic reactions in humans who would eat it. By the time the FDA
completed its roadmap for reviewing genetically-modified animals in 2009,
Aquabounty was the first company to submit its data.
After reviewing the company's data, the FDA said in a public hearing in
September of 2010 that Aquabounty's salmon is "as safe as food from
conventional Atlantic salmon." The FDA also said the fish "are not expected
to have a significant impact" on the environment.
But as the company has inched toward FDA approval it has faced increasing
pushback from natural food advocates, environmentalists and politicians from
salmon-producing states. In fact, following the FDA's positive review of
the fish, the House of Representatives passed a budget that included
language barring the FDA from spending funds to approve a genetically-
engineered salmon.
"Frankenfish is uncertain and unnecessary," said Rep. Don Young of Alaska,
who authored the language. The Senate did not adopt the measure.
Despite such opposition, environmental groups such as the Food and Water
Watch say that FDA approval seems inevitable. "We think there is a clear
bias toward approving genetically modified animals within the FDA," said
Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit that
promotes environmental-friendly fishing and farming practices. "This thing
is trapped in a regulatory process that is predisposed toward approving it."
But the delay could cause Aquabounty to go bankrupt before its salmon
reaches supermarkets.
Aquabounty, which started in 1991 focusing on proteins used to preserve
human cells, changed direction after acquiring the rights to gene-
manipulation technology from researchers at the University of Toronto and
Memorial University of Newfoundland. Aquabounty's Initial financing came
from Boston-area investors and biotech-focused venture capital funds, but
the company has burned through more than $67 million since it started.
According to its mid-year financial report, Aquabounty had less than $1.5
million in cash and stock. And it has no other products besides genetically-
modified salmon in development.
In February, the cash-strapped company agreed to sell its research and
development arm to its largest single shareholder, Kakha Bendukidze, a
former Republic of Georgia finance minister turned investor, in return for
his help raising $2 million in cash to stay afloat. Aquabounty's CEO Stotish
fretted that Bendukidze, who controlled nearly 48 percent of Aquabounty's
public stock, would move the company overseas. But in October Bendukidze's
investment fund sold its shares to Intrexon, a biotech firm headquartered in
Germantown, Maryland.
Stotish views the sale as a positive development, but he still worries that
the U.S. government is unwilling to approve the technology at the heart of
his company's work.
"This is about more than Aquabounty and more than salmon," Stotish says. "
And shame on us if we allow this to slip away because of partisan bickering
and people who oppose new technology." | a***a
发帖数: 12425 | 2 是不是兹要转基因的就不能食用的说，甭管是鱼还是别的？ | i*****s
发帖数: 15215 | 3 我不是很理解转基因的害处，我自己是不在意的，对人类和自然界的长期影响，让专家
去关心吧。
【在 a***a 的大作中提到】
: 是不是兹要转基因的就不能食用的说，甭管是鱼还是别的？
| I***i
发帖数: 14557 | | c*********r
发帖数: 19468 | 5 生态角度确实可能污染自然界中的鲑鱼，但对人类的饮食健康来说，我也觉得无所谓
但是长得这么快，恐怕味道或口感要差点事吧……
不过鲑鱼再怎么说也是好东西，实在不行做成五香熏鱼哈
【在 i*****s 的大作中提到】
: 我不是很理解转基因的害处，我自己是不在意的，对人类和自然界的长期影响，让专家
: 去关心吧。
| a***a
发帖数: 12425 | 6 蜜兔。
纯天然、纯天然～～～
【在 I***i 的大作中提到】
: 我还是喜欢原始的、未经过人工干预的。
| k**h
发帖数: 2929 | | S********t
发帖数: 18987 | 8 这个泄到自然界，其他鱼就别过了，
再过些年，鲨鱼长得和鲸鱼一样大，
再过些年，恐龙就再生了 | a***a
发帖数: 12425 | 9 是啊。。。为毛都往大了变，就不能变小点儿么？比如hyena变得像苍蝇那样小
【在 S********t 的大作中提到】
: 这个泄到自然界，其他鱼就别过了，
: 再过些年，鲨鱼长得和鲸鱼一样大，
: 再过些年，恐龙就再生了
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