Approval Uncertainty for GM Salmon Affects Food Production Efforts

By not allowing genetically engineered salmon to be consumed in the U.S., scientific efforts to increase food production may be stalled says Purdue university professor of animal sciences William Muir.

"We realize that any new technology can have risks, and those risks need to be assessed in a thorough and convincing manner," Muir said. "However, once the assessment has been completed and the agency concludes from the weight of evidence that risks of harm, either to the environment or to consumers, is negligible, the next step, which is to allow production and sale of the product, needs to be taken."

AquAdvantage (AA) salmon, developed by AquaBounty Technologies, was given a gene from Chinook salmon that speeds growth and improves feed efficiency in farm-raised fish. Once approved for commercialization, the fish will be spawned in Canada and grown in Panama in land-based, contained facilities.

View http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2011/110805MuirSalmon.html for more information.