Would you eat GM salmon?

[rov1200]

These GM salmon are 3 times the usual weight of the normal salmon
The first GM animal produced for human consumption could be served up on our plates within 2 years. Approval is close to being obtained within the US administration and soon after will be sought in the EU.

Health issues have also been raised:

http://www.foodproduc...certain-GM-fish-Study

Is this progress or will it lead to our ultimate extinction?

[rov1200]

Details of frankenstein fish:

http://www.dailymail....tml?ito=feeds-newsxml

[olddutch]

"Would you eat GM salmon?" No

"Is this progress or will it lead to our ultimate extinction?" Maybe - to both - only time will tell.

[ummmm]

No for me as well. I would rather become a veggie..

[redman41]

How could we tell the difference if someone put a plate of Salmon in front of you and you ate it not knowing if it was wild salmon, Farmed or GM Salmon. I doubt if I could tell the difference in all honesty.......

[Sqad]

Yes.........if it was cooked first.

[ummmm]

You can with wild salmon...you only have to look at the fat in the flesh.

[ethandron]

eat anything if i'm hungry :)
i reckon we eat a lot of gm stuff now without even knowing, so yes, i would eat it.

[Seadragon]

I hope GM produced food is not the answer to future food shortages. A restriction on fishing quotas until stocks are replenished I think would be a better solution, maybe we need to reduce human demand for certain fish?

I think the issue here is highlighed in the Frankenstein article - 'assuring producers bigger profits' these profits at the cost of the risks to our health. The article says that the US company are approved by the Amercian Safety Authories yet pus is still added to milk in the States and banned in Europe because of health risks.

Thankfully in Europe there is the 'Precautionary Principle' embedded in the Legislation that even if it can't be proved - that is not enough evidence but research shows that GM produced food is highly suggestive of risks to human health then that is sufficient enough to ban it. So we should be grateful that caution is exercised better in Europe than in the States.

However if it is approved, I'm not eating it. I'll stick to the skinny salmon.

[Seadragon]

My post only looks at the angle of human risks of such foods, the environmental impact is different but again there are tight controls on testing.

[Zeuhl]

Fair enough seadragon but they are linked of course.

I suspect the human gut can cope fine with GM food and lots of other stuff.

However, the companies developing these non-natural strains are often using viruses as part of the gene splicing process.

If they inadvertently produce a mutant virus that escapes the lab and destroys all fish; or all grain crops; or all fruit trees; or any significant part of the eco system our health will definitely be at risk!

.

[Seadragon]

I don't know if the human gut can cope with GM foods, if there are fish deformities present as a result then really there is not enough scientific studies concerning the potential human risk of consumption of these foods? GM foods may be responsible for increasing allergies and what about the toxins produced?

[Zeuhl]

Good point.

We are in uncharted territory, you're right.
.

[Zeuhl]

The power of the Agri-Business corporations are going to push this through regardless aren't they?

There is big bucks to be made!

[modeller]

You have to remember none of the food we eat is natural . We have been breeding in or out the characteristics we desire in our food. Take a simple example the potato and the tomato are in the Deadly Nightshade family and parts of the plants are toxic.
Talking of which : Potato crops in England are wiped out by Blight which requires massive spraying of chemicals . If the present trials are successful the new GM potato will be resistant to Blight and we wont have to eat potatoes that have been doused in chemicals. Much of our food contains soya and wheat which were GMed years ago. We do have to be careful of cause but there is a lot of nonsense talked about the use of viruses . Are you aware that your life may be saved because a virus is used as a medium to attack cancer cells. GM is only doing quickly what nature does over thousands of years .

[Zeuhl]

There's a big difference between grafting and selective breeding and what GM can do.

I think nature could chuck fish and strawberries together for a very long time and the strawberries will never take on any of the fish characteristics as they have with GM.
.

[modeller]

zeuhl If you care to study adaptation of organisms you will find that organisms change in order too survive and that is why there are plants which stink of rotting fish and some fish which look like plants. This may take hundreds or even thousands of years depending on the enviromental changes which favour the genetic variations which helps the organism to survive. In your example :
If bees were to slowly die out only the strawberries with a different smell or appearance would attract different insects and survive . Its called adaptation .

[philkool]

I wouldn,t eat anything made by Vauhall.

[modeller]

zeuhl I'm sure you would enjoy some of the wild strawberries found along coasts which have a distinct fishy , sea weedy taste, they have adapted to be pollinated by flies. who are attracted by the smell.