Genetically Engineered Salmon Swim Towards FDA Approval

If you thought genetically engineered crops were scary (and let's face it, they are), hold onto your dinner plates. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to approve the nation's first genetically engineered (GE) animal. Experts say the FDA could approve GE salmon in the next few months, with the fish appearing on grocery store shelves in the next two-to-three years.

The Frankenfood is created by AquaBounty Technologies, a company that's been trying to earn the FDA's approval of the salmon for the past decade. GE salmon grow twice as fast as regular salmon, reaching an eatable size in 16 to 18 months as opposed to the three years it normally takes. They really are the fast food of salmon.

In order to achieve such Herculean growth rates, scientists tinkered with the salmon so that they would produce growth hormones all year long. Normally. salmon stop making growth hormones during the colder months. So instead of pumping the fish full of growth hormones, a process that's used on factory farms with chicken and cattle, scientists figured out a way to make salmon produce their own beefer-uppers.

Of course this news is about more than just GE salmon. FDA approval of AquaBounty Technologies' product would set a precedent for genetically modified meat. The decision could usher in a wave of GE animals, from pigs to cows to chickens. According to the New York Times, the next GE animal up for approval could be the "enviropig," GM swine that produces much less phosphorous in its manure than traditional pigs.

Two things worry me about GE animals earning approval: the meat's effect on human health, and how producing it may impact the environment. The FDA already allows producers to give their animals growth hormones to create beefier animals. Researchers are just starting to uncover the potential health risks of this practice, from making girls hit puberty earlier to an increased risk of cancer. If salmon produce their own growth hormones in extreme amounts, what effect will it have on consumers?

I'm concerned about the fish's environmental impacts, too. GE salmon are raised in fish farms, where farmed fish notoriously escape and reproduce with wild fish, forever altering their genetic diversity. AquaBounty claims its GE salmon will be kept securely in land-based containment systems as opposed to ocean pens, and that all fish will be sterile females. Still, if history has taught us anything, it's that genetic modification can cause unintended environmental problems. Look at what's happening with Monsanto's genetically modified, Roundup Ready corn, cotton, and soybean seeds. Weeds are developing resistance to Roundup, transforming into superweeds that choke out valuable crops.

If Big Ag's showed us anything over the years, it's that GE products can have huge impacts on the environment. I just hope the FDA remembers that when it considers approving AquaBounty Technologies' GE salmon.

Photo credit: Dezidor via Wikimedia Commons