Ain't science wonderful- Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: Doug Schaad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Daniel Compton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Chuck Ballard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Bob Birkner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Bill Boardman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Dick Brening <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Hugh Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; James Creim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Greg Crumbaker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Robert W. Day <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Jay Delaney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Nubs Fratt Jr. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; James Gudger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Bill Hamilton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; James Hanson MD <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Grant Hendrickson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Greg Hicks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Ronald Hofmeister <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Joe Holmes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Jordan Isaiou <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Curt Jacobs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Ken Jarvis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Hugh Jennings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Lester Johnson <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED].; Charles Judy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 8:30 PM Subject: [Fwd: FW: TIME Magazine Make Way for Frankenfish! --PAGE 1-- MARCH 6, 2000] > All -- This is a follow-on concerning New Zealand's stand on genetically altered Atlantic salmon. Though the data may be a bit exaggerated, the concepts > are accurate. -- Doug > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Douglas C. Schaad [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 8:26 AM > > To: Douglas C. Schaad PhD > > Subject: TIME Magazine Make Way for Frankenfish! --PAGE 1-- MARCH 6, > > 2000 > > > > SCIENCE > > MARCH 6, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 9 > > Make Way for Frankenfish! > > What Happens To These Ordinary Salmon If The Genetically Modified Lunkers > > Ever Get Loose? > > BY FREDERIC GOLDEN > > > > These salmon are siblings, yet one grew spectacularly, thanks to a gene > > transplant > > > > Whether served as raw sushi, grilled steak or in thin smoked slices, most of > > the salmon you eat these days is not the sleek sport fish that has been a > > favorite of anglers since Izaak Walton but rather a chunky, sluggish > > creature raised in captivity. Indeed, salmon caught in the wild accounts for > > less than half of all salmon sold in the U.S. > > > > Now gene splicers have cooked up a replacement that sounds like a fish tale: > > a veritable superfish, one that can grow at least twice as fast, resist > > disease and outmate competitors. If approved, it could provide protein to > > millions of people at a time when fish stocks are perilously low. But as you > > might expect, some critics are carping. They consider the supersalmon a > > biological time bomb that could destroy the remaining natural salmon > > populations and wreak other environmental havoc. To them, the supersalmon is > > nothing less than a "Frankenfish." > > > > Unlike other genetically modified foods--so-called Frankenfoods--the > > supersalmon was born almost accidentally. About 20 years ago, a fish > > researcher in Newfoundland found that even though his saltwater tank had > > frozen, the flounder in it survived. Adapted to icy Canadian waters, the > > fish turned out to have a gene, known in other polar fishes, that produces > > an anti-freeze protein. While trying to splice this gene into salmon so it > > too could be grown in colder waters, scientists made a second accidental > > discovery: they found that while the gene didn't keep the salmon from > > freezing, a portion of it, when stitched onto a salmon's growth-hormone > > gene, greatly speeded development--up to five or six times as fast as in the > > early months and about twice as fast overall. Patenting their discovery, the > > scientists started a company in Waltham, Mass., called A/F Protein (A/F > > stands for antifreeze). > > > > The company has 10,000 to 20,000 Atlantic supersalmon swimming in endless > > circles in 136 tanks at three locations in Canada's Maritime provinces. The > > hope is that these fish will soon be producing eggs for commercial > > aquaculture not just in Canada but in New Zealand, Chile and the U.S. as > > well. By turning to the supersalmon, says Elliot Entis, A/F's president, > > fish farmers could double production without doubling costs because the fish > > converts food into body mass so much more efficiently than ordinary salmon. > > That, he says, would mean "more fish for more people at a lower price." > > > > But this so-called blue revolution may not reach U.S. shores for a while. > > Although gene scientists in the U.S. have been tinkering with a variety of > > marine creatures--not only salmon and trout but also carp, catfish, tilapia > > and shrimp--these efforts are drawing criticism similar to that directed at > > genetically modified foods. Opponents, who complain about the fertilizers > > and other pollutants released into coastal waters by the fish farms, are > > especially concerned about the potential impact on the gene pool. They note > > that domesticated fish regularly escape from their pens into the wild and > > breed with native stocks, upsetting the balance of nature. > > > > No one knows what ripple effects might occur if the new supersalmon escaped > > into the wild. One of the few studies done by U.S. researchers found a lower > > survival rate for eggs produced by transgenic fish. Still other studies show > > that despite their name, so-called superfish have diminished muscle > > structure and swimming performance. Says Canadian fish geneticist Robert > > Devlin: "Science, at the moment, is unable to give us a reliable assessment > > of risk." > > > > Entis and others reply that whatever the risk, it could be lowered to almost > > zero by raising the fish in closed tanks rather than in storm-exposed pens. > > Still another tactic under consideration is shocking the fertilized eggs so > > they create fish that cannot reproduce--a marine equivalent of the > > self-destructing terminator gene that Monsanto once considered putting in > > its patented plant seeds. > > > > Fearing a consumer backlash, New Zealand King Salmon, a major producer of > > Chinook salmon--the largest Pacific salmon--announced last week that it was > > suspending its gene-modification experiments. Entis, by contrast, believes > > he can win acceptance of his supersalmon through public education. "We have > > to show we have nothing to hide," he says. > > > > But don't count on putting supersalmon lox on your Sunday-morning bagel > > anytime soon. The Food and Drug Administration must first approve > > introduction of the fish into the U.S., something that probably won't happen > > before 2001. > > > > --REPORTED BY DICK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON > > > > IMAGE CREDITS | R. DEVLIN/FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA > > > > COPYRIGHT � 2000 TIME INC. > > > > AQUACULTURE: Frankenfishing in the Gene Pool > > The Senses: Flavors on the tip of the tongue > > > > PRESS: Who Knew Raw Data Could Be So Fun? > > > > LAW: Nobody Here But Us Indians > > > > Mathematics: The calculus of applause > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > Name: TIME Magazine Make Way for Frankenfish! --PAGE 1-- MARCH 6, 2000.html > > TIME Magazine Make Way for Frankenfish! --PAGE 1-- MARCH 6, 2000.html Type: Hypertext Markup Language (text/html) > > Encoding: quoted-printable > >
