Slashdot Mirror
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."
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
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.
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.