By PL Chang on September 29th, 2010

Genetically Modified Salmon ‘Frankenfish’ Soon to be Released

Image provided by Isaac Wedin
Genetically modified food (GM food) used to be a rare thing in the past but now it is found in many conventional food products, especially in the US. If you live in the US, the five foods you need to avoid are corn, soy, canola, cottonseed and sugar beets, because they are usually genetically modified. This also includes food products containing corn, soy, canola, cottonseed and sugar beets ingredients, unless they are label non-GMO or organic. In the US, most junk foods and fast foods have genetically modified ingredients because they are usually made with the five foods previously mentioned.

Genetic engineering is a science that scientists are still poor at doing. They are still at the very early stage of understanding how genes work; therefore, they have little clues to what genes are and how they operate. Currently, there are many genetic experiments combining genes from different species including plants, bacterias, virus, insects and animals. One experiment that is getting a lot of attention is genetically modified salmon. A genetically modified salmon is not the same as a natural salmon. It may taste and look the same but genetically it is different. The difference in genetics may have unintended effects, leading to the development of unknown toxins and allergenic components. Another thing we should worry about is how genetically modified salmon affects the environment.

As mentioned at Chron.com.

Environmentalists are concerned, in part, because of a recent study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which found that, theoretically the accidental release of just 60 of the genetically engineered salmon into the wild could lead to the extinction of a natural population of 60,000 salmon in less than 40 fish generations.

Many of the studies supporting GM food are very bias because they are sponsor by companies supporting GM food. Monsanto is one of the major sponsors of GM food. Monsanto’s main goal is to dominate the world by replacing natural food with GM food. Company sponsor studies are usually very bias because these studies have restricted guidelines to follow. In other words, they can only do tests that benefit the sponsors. If researchers do not follow their sponsor’s or company’s guidelines, they are usually fired. On the contrary side, independent studies found out that animals fed with GM food developed serious health problems including infertility, birth defects, immune disorders, growth problems and premature aging.

According to polls done throughout the world, most people do not want to eat genetically modified food. These polls are not being taken seriously by the FDA, because it is doing little to stop genetically modified food from hitting store shelves. Currently in Washington, FDA officials are trying to convince congress to allow AquaBounty Technologies to sell its genetically modified salmon to customers. If approved, this ‘frankenfish’ will be released in stores nationwide. What makes it worst is the fact that the FDA does not require GM food to be label. This means that when you buy a salmon, you will not know if it is genetically modified or not. If we keep on allowing companies to create GM food without long-term and reliable studies, there will be devastating consequences, leading to the destruction of our health and environment.

If you are concern about the health and environmental effects of GM food, please read this article. For methods on how to avoid GM food or GM ingredients, please visit this site.

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