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Safe "Engineered" Fugu, Sans Gene Manipulation

zlel writes "Did anyone figure that you could get clean, poison-free Fugu without genetic engineering? According to this story, a group of researchers at Nagasaki University managed to do just that - they bred Fugu by giving them poison-free feed. They tried to get Japan to modify its ban on the sale of Fugu liver - but authorities felt that this was too big a risk - so in the meantime, you gotta trust your chefs." Anyone willing to translate for the Japanese-impaired?

2 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. reason why fugu tasted so good was the poison by xutopia · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Traces of anhydrotetrodotoxin 4-epitetrodotoxin in the flesh gives people a high. Just like it is more fun to eat a meal with a bottle of wine to intoxicate yourself with the poison in fugu does the same effect.

    I wonder if it would be possible to have a fugu with just very small doses of the poison so that we can eat it, get high and not die. Now that would be cool!

  2. The point is that, by DB_researcher · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They does not find how to farm poison-free fugu, but make sure demonstlation of it.

    It is known that the poison of Fugu fish, tetradotoxin, is not came from Fugu itself. The poison is came from their feed, some marine bioproducts(Staphyloccus, Bacillus, Micrococcus, Alteromonas, Acinetobacter, etc.).

    There is no doubt that the scientist who found the source of poison of fugu make great work. But, in practical science, making good experiment is as important as theorem. This is the first experiment that proves poison-free fugu can be farmed by practical method.