Argumentative Essay On Salmon

598 Words2 Pages

The first genetically modified animal has been given the green light to reach dinner plates. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the AquAdvantage salmon for consumption. The salmon has been genetically engineered to grow faster than the conventional farmed salmon. Being genetically modified, it allows the Atlantic salmon to grow to a marketable size of 4kg to 5kg in 18 months - about half the time compared to an ordinary salmon, which take three years to reach the market weight. The fish is modified to carry a growth hormone gene from the Pacific chinook salmon and DNA from the eel-like ocean pout. This allows the salmon to grow faster as the hormone is kept active all the time. The genetically modified salmon was created by Emeritus Professor Hew …show more content…

The salmon ‘designed’ by AquaBounty Technologies, first applied to FDA for approval in 1995, and after 20 years of deliberation dogged by controversy, on (date), the FDA approved the salmon as safe for consumer consumption. The company is based in Massachusetts, US, where Emeritus Professor Hew was chief scientist before he left in 1999. After rigorous evaluations of the extensive data submitted by AquaBounty Technologies by the scientists at FDA. FDA says that the genetic engineering is safe for the fish and for consumption as the inserted genes will remain stable over several generations of fish. The salmon are all sterile females which are grown in contained land-based systems, therefore they will not be able to breed among themselves or with other fish. So it is unlikely that the fish will have an impact on wild populations. Even with FDA approval, the transgenic fish may face difficulty in getting consumers on board as it faces backlash with some grocers in the US reportedly saying they would not sell the genetically modified

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