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California Bans Genegineered Fish
Cheeko writes "California regulators have announced that they are blocking the sale of genetically engineered fish. The arguments of the regulators seem to echo some of those discussed earlier here."
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It makes sense, we just banned another genetically modified fish not two months ago.
It goes from God, to Jerry, to me.
Most of Californians live near the coast. I'm in Northern California, and it takes me 5-6 hours to get out of the state (Reno, NV). It takes people in Los Angeles 4 hours to get out (Las Vegas, NV). I guess it's possible for people in San Diego to buy them in Mexico, but then they have to go through customs which would confiscate them.
Californians will have the option of buying them out-of-state, but it's way too much of a hassle IMHO just to have a few glowing fish.
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More dramatic changes, as you put it, could also mean more dramatic results. In many cases, when changes (like cross-breeding types of corn) occur over a long period of time, nature has a better chance to adapt and "catch" errors before they get too drastic.
If an experiment that involves genetic engineering goes wrong, it will go wrong fast, and nobody can foresee the effects of that because there is absolutely no prior incident it could be compared to. That kind of scares me.
Fluorescent zebra fish were specially bred to help detect environmental pollutants. By adding a natural fluorescence gene to the fish, scientists are able to quickly and easily determine when our waterways are contaminated. The first step in developing these pollution detecting fish was to create fish that would be fluorescent all the time. It was only recently that scientists realized the public's interest in sharing the benefits of this research. We call this the GloFish(TM) fluorescent fish.
How common is the use of fluorescent zebra fish in science?
For over a decade, fluorescent zebra fish have been relied upon by scientists worldwide to better understand important questions in genetics, molecular biology, and vertebrate development. Fluorescent zebra fish have been particularly helpful in understanding cellular disease and development, as well as cancer and gene therapy.
What are the differences between fluorescent zebra fish and other zebra fish?
Aside from their brilliant color, fluorescent zebra fish are the same as other zebra fish in every way. This includes everything from general care and temperature preferences to growth rate and life expectancy.
Do fluorescent fish glow?
Fluorescent fish absorb light and then re-emit it. This creates the perception that they are glowing, particularly when shining an ultraviolet light on the fish in a dark room.
Does the fluorescence harm the fish?
No. The fish are as healthy as other zebra fish in every way. Scientists breed them by adding a natural fluorescence gene to the fish eggs before they hatch. The fish is born with this unique color, and maintains the color throughout its life. The color is also passed on to their offspring.
What will happen if a fluorescent zebra fish escapes into the waterways?
Zebra fish are tropical fish and are unable to survive in non-tropical environments. They have been sold to pet owners worldwide for more than fifty years. Despite all these years of aquarium ownership, zebra fish are only found in tropical environments, such as their native India .
What if a fluorescent zebra fish is eaten?
Eating a fluorescent zebra fish is the same as eating any other zebra fish. Their fluorescence is derived from a naturally occurring gene and is completely safe for the environment. Just as eating a blue fish would not turn a predator blue, eating a fluorescent fish would not make a predator fluoresce.
Are you going to create more fluorescent fish?
Scientists all around the world are working with fluorescent fish, whether it's to help protect the environment or come up with new disease-fighting drug therapies. As more fluorescent fish become available, they may be offered for sale to the public.
How can buying these fish help in the fight against pollution?
These fish have already existed for several years and were developed to help fight pollution. By breeding these existing fish, we will allow people to have their own fluorescent fish while promoting the beneficial scientific goals behind their development. In fact, a portion of the proceeds from sales will go directly to the lab where these fish were created in order to further their research--research we hope will help to protect the environment and save lives.
Why are GloFish(TM) the only fluorescent fish that can be sold in the United States ?
Because fluorescent fish are unique, their sale is covered by a substantial number of patents and pending patent applications. The providers of GloFish(TM) fluorescent fish, 5-D Tropical and Segrest Farms, are the only distributors that have the necessary licenses to produce and market fluorescent fish within the United States . The production of fluorescent fish by any other party, or the sale of any fluorescent fish not originally distributed by 5-D Tropical or Segrest Farms, is strictly prohibited.
Their Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Department of Fish and Game is to manage California's diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public.
The Department of Fish and Game maintains native fish, wildlife, plant species and natural communities for their intrinsic and ecological value and their benefits to people. This includes habitat protection and maintenance in a sufficient amount and quality to ensure the survival of all species and natural communities. The department is also responsible for the diversified use of fish and wildlife including recreational, commercial, scientific and educational uses.
Nope, morality control is not their job. This fish has been demonstrated to NOT be a threat to the CA wildlife, is perfectly safe for 49 other states and the Federal Government. This fish is the first (that I know of) publicly available GM pet. I see that has having EXTENSIVE positive recreational, commercial, scientific and educational uses.
But the commission is apparently too squeamish to see that, and said no. Even though they could use this fish's existence to further the ideals in their mission statement. It's sad, really.
Moo.
The fish don't really glow (they're not luminescent), they're flourescent which means that they only light up when ultraviolet light hits them. Flourescent fish can survive just fine and I don't think they're especially easy targets. I'd be willing to bet that some predators would even be turned off by the color.
As a Californian, I'm glad we won't have them here. Let them experiment on the ecosystem somewhere else and then, in ten or twenty years, allow them in if there hasven't been any problems. There have just been way too many environmental disasters caused by introducing species (engineered or not) into new environments. If you want colorful fish, buy some Neon Tetras or a Jack Dempsey or just go saltwater where there are plenty of flourescent fish to choose from.
If just 1/3 of the cattle grazing ground were switched to producing vegetable crops, such as soybeans, starvation in the world would be wiped out. there is no need to genetically alter anything. People just need to be less reliant on an unecessary food source.
eesh, give me a break. I always hear this argument. The problem is NOT the amount of food in the world. The problem is distribution. There is enough food on this planet to feed everyone, there have been plenty of studies on that. The problem is getting all this food to every part of the world, and still making a profit (no money => no food).
I didn't even read this whole article, it was just the first one that I googled... http://www.ifpri.org/2020/briefs/number19.htm
The gene *will* escape into the wild. In every single case studied, it escaped despite all precautions in production settings. Lab settings were more successful in keeping the lid on.
These are PLANTS we are talking about. Obviously it's much more difficult to contain plant pollen than it is to contain a zebrafish.
Furthermore, plants can reproduce much faster than zebrafish or other animals. Bt corn is an extreme case: it has been SPECIFICALLY engineered to survive better than normal corn in the wild.
Zebrafish are very fragile and an aquarium variety will not last very long in the wild. It will become sick, die, get eaten, or all of the above. I can not believe how many people forget this simple fact.
We know that nature can handle "natural" disasters because it was handeling them long before we existed. Some natural disasters may even be necessary to keep the system operating. It isn't so clear with man made changes. There is a severe shortage of precident
Then there is the issue of biodiversity. Every extinction we cause means a species, a habitat, an ecosystem will no longer exist for us to study. All those solved problems that we will never know. Oh, nature is resiliant. It is almost certain that no matter how badly we fuck things up, nature and it's biodiversity will recover eventually. But nature is also slow. Many of us would rather not wait the millions of years that nature would take to recover from our abuses.
i read jurassic park, the fish would just spontaneously switch sex.
That's a possibility I suppose. There are several species of fish (IIRC) on the Great Barrier Reef that can do this. In some the top female will become a male and in others it's the other way around.