Aquabounty Technologies, from Maynard Massachusetts, has announced that it has sold some 4.5 tons of genetically engineered salmon to customers in Canada. Their Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar, grow significantly faster than their non-gmo (genetically modified organism) counterparts, reaching market size in 18 months which translates into about half the time.
We could come to rely heavily on GMO products in the future, albeit it is a highly debatable topic, with varying opinion that include social, economic, scientific and political issues. As such Aquabounty’s Atlantic salmon marks the genetically engineered animal to be sold as food in the open market, a feat which has taken the company more than 25 years to achieve. The aforementioned tonnage was raised in tanks on a small facility in Panama, but plans to expand to Canada’s Prince Edward Island and Albany, Indian following the go ahead from US regulators.
In the simplest terms Aquabounty introduced both a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and regulatory elements including an antifreeze protein coding gene from Ocean Pout (Zoarces americanus) into the Atlantic salmon genome. The incorporation of these genes permitted the salmon to proliferate growth hormone year-round as opposed to seasonally initiating a rapid growth process.
There have been and continue to be many hurdles for GMOs as a source for human consumption. Challenges originating from the politics, how to label these species or inform consumers as to what they are purchasing, the potential consequences of releasing GMO fish into the wild are all obstacles.
In my opinion farmed aquaculture species will play a large role in the feeding populations across the globe. With the concerns of climate change, an ever-expanding population, dwindling fish stocks, etc I feel companies like Aquabounty are driving us forward to find new solutions.
To learn more please see Aquabounty Technolgies website
https://aquabounty.com
Also see, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/first-genetically-engineered-salmon-sold-in-canada/
