Fast-growing fish may never wind up on your plate
“This undated 2010 handout photo provided by AquaBounty Technologies shows two same-age salmon, a genetically modified salmon, rear, and a non-genetically modified salmon, foreground. Salmon that’s genetically modified to grow twice as fast as normal could soon show up on your dinner plate — if the company that makes the fish can stay afloat.”
My evening plan to read Harry Potter for the first time (I know!) was thwarted by Linton Weeks’s thought-provoking post on the right of plants to evolve. The post reports on the work of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund , a…
“Do species have the right to evolve without human interference? To undergo natural selection, not artificial selection? Is it even possible for humans to avoid affecting the evolutionary trajectories of other species?”
There are many more wonderful questions and thoughts at the link. What do you think?
But California’s upcoming Proposition 37, which would mandate the labeling of genetically engineered foods, might have a few voters scratching their heads. Is it a victory for transparency in an age when large corporations control our food system? Or is it, as some have claimed, based on an anti-science premise with few practical benefits?”
CEO Ron Stotish of AquaBounty Technologies on their transgenic salmon which, pending FDA approval, could make its way to your market and dinner plate. [via NBC Chicago]
Would you eat this fish?
GMOs & California & You
I want to thank Tina, one of my favorite people, for drawing my attention to two blogs posts by David Zilberman, a professor of agriculture and resource economics, on the potential impact of the California proposition to label genetically modified (GM) products.
- Why labeling of GMOs is actually bad for people and the environment [Berkeley Blogs]
- The GMO labeling debate continued: It’s about the ‘benchmark’ [Berkeley Blogs]
I was reminded of Pamela Ronald’s ‘Genetically Engineered Crops - What, How and Why’ for Scientific American,
In 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 30 genetically engineered crops were grown on almost 300 million acres in 25 countries (nearly the size of the state of Alaska), 15 of which were developing countries (James 2009). By 2015, 120 genetically engineered crops (including potato and rice) are expected to be cultivated worldwide (Stein and Rodriguez-Cerezo 2009). Half of the increase will be crops designed for domestic markets from national technology providers in Asia and Latin America.
Read them and let me know what you think.
