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Cebu_4_2
20th September 2010, 08:50 PM
FDA panel ponders future of genetically modified salmon
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Video here: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid42806360001?bctid=613913464001

The AquAdvantageAE Salmon, background, is much larger than the non-transgenic Atlantic salmon sibling of the same age. The FDA will review the Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies' proposal for production and sale of a new Atlantic salmon with a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon that allows it to grow to market size in half the time.
Enlarge image Enlarge AquaBounty Technologies, Inc.
The AquAdvantageAE Salmon, background, is much larger than the non-transgenic Atlantic salmon sibling of the same age. The FDA will review the Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies' proposal for production and sale of a new Atlantic salmon with a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon that allows it to grow to market size in half the time.

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
An expert advisory panel with the Food and Drug Administration that was asked to consider the "strengths and weaknesses" of the agency's report on whether genetically engineered salmon are safe to eat offered no definitive answer Monday as to whether the fish should be sold as human food.

A final decision is not likely for "quite awhile," as the FDA has agreed to publish its environmental assessment and take public comment before making a decision, says Gregory Jaffe, biotechnology director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is calling for appropriate oversight of the fish if approved.

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The salmon — which can grow twice as fast as normal salmon — could become the first genetically engineered animals sold as food in the USA.

On Sept. 3, FDA's staff issued a report which found that the flesh of the engineered salmon was as safe to eat as any other salmon. This was considered a strong support for the efforts of AquaBounty Technologies, the Waltham, Mass., company that has been developing these salmon since 1989.

Multiple critics have assailed the possible approval of the fish as dangerous to humans who might eat it, as well as to natural salmon that may have to compete with the altered fish should they escape into the wild.

The FDA will continue meeting today in Rockville, Md., to gather public input on whether the fish could or should be labeled as genetically engineered.

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/safety/2010-09-21-salmon21_ST_N.htm