Salmon is commonly used for all sorts of fish cuisines. Undoubtedly, it makes a cuisine delicious. Usually, the kind of salmon used is wild or conventionally breed. But, would you try a genetically modified salmon?
The US Food and Drug Administration has finally approved AquAdvantage Salmon as the first genetically modified food from animals. FDA also declared that this first genetically modified salmon is safe to eat.
The approval of this genetically modified (GM) salmon was also based on a broad and thorough research. After the research done, FDA discovered that the animals are "not materially different from other Atlantic salmon and do not require food containing ingredients derived from these salmon to be labeled as GE." Because of this discovery, the administration announced that AquAdvantage Salmons are safe to eat and are even nutritious.
According to Gizmodo, the making of GM Salmon started in 1989. The AquAdvantage was originally patterned from Atlantic salmon and growth from Chinook salmon was added, resulting to the modification. The growth hormone also has a piece of pout fish's DNA.
Thus having an increase in production of the AquAdvantage Salmon.
The GM salmon can only be raised in certain areas, and certainly not in the US. The fish can be raised in hatchery tanks in Panama and Canada. But it then will be sold to the US market.
News reported on Business Insider said that AquaBounty Technologies created the AquAdvantage salmon which some called the "Frankenfish." The fish has a specific hormone that doubles the growth time compared to other salmon.
The approval for the AquAdvantage Salmon was not easily granted as there were regulatory guidelines that it had to meet. It had to be safe to eat, the modified DNA needed to be also safe for the fish, it had to prove its claims of faster growth, and it had to also be safe and nutritious as non-GM Atlantic salmon.
The frankenfish met all these and thus got the seal of approval from the FDA.
