Frankenfish!

You know the saying if it looks like a cat, purrs like a cat and moves like a cat, then it must be a cat. The question is would you have the same mentally when it comes to the food you consume?

Genetically Engineer (GE) salmon, also called “Frankenfish”by many, is not a cloned fish, but its DNA has been altered to produce the chosen characteristics, in this case a bigger and fast growing fish. In order to this, scientists have added the growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and the gene from an eel-like fish. Conventional salmon produces the growth hormone at some point in its life time; however, by adding the growth hormone to the GE salmon, it allows the fish to produce their growth hormone all year-round.

Photo Retrieved:http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4050

 

Because the GE salmon has not been approved yet by the FDA, the altered fish has never been eaten before, thus it raises concern on the allergens that someone can get when consuming this fish, which by the way, once is approved by the FDA people will not know which salmon is the real deal and which one is the GE fish. The CEO of Aqua Bounty, Ron Stotish, which is the company producing the GE fish says that although the salmon is genetically engineer is very safe to eat due to the large amount of time they spent studying this fish, and that any allergens will not be any different from those of conventional salmon.

While population increases rapidly, the need to satisfy costumers’needs worldwide leads industries to get together with scientist to promote faster and bigger food products. Genetically engineer products have been created before such as vegetables; while many of us did not know the real source.

Once again, would you care to eat GE food products?

Written by: Flor D. Medina.