Glowing Fish are First Genetically Engineered Pets.

Vid_Octo

Hatchling
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Nov 20, 2003
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First things first.. I don't know if there is a general, non-octo-but-still-aquatic-kinda-news area, so, apologies in advance for going OT..

http://slashdot.org/ have the following feature on their front page:

Science: Glowing Fish are First Genetically Engineered Pets

Texas-based biotechnology company Yorktown Technologies will start selling a 'genetically engineered aquarium fish that glows in the dark.' The trademarked GloFish -- 'a tropical zebra fish infused with the gene of a sea anemone that makes it glow fluorescent red' -- is first genetically engineered pet. The possible consequences of introducing a new trangenic species into the environment has touched off a debate that has critics such as the National Academies of Science and the Center for Food Safety calling for a ban on the sale of the fish unless the FDA regulates and approves it. The fish go on sale in January 2004.

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The ethics of messing around with.. and releasing ' modified ' animals to the general public like this makes me shudder tbh.. :yinyang:
 

Jean

Colossal Squid
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Nov 19, 2002
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I'd heard/read about this in Science/Nature/New Scientist one of them anyway (OK so I'm a Science Nerd :madsci: ) wasn't sure about it then not sure about it now!

J
 

joel_ang

Architeuthis
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May 15, 2003
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Well down here in Singapore, they were banned and 400 odd fish were confiscated about less than a week after they came in. They were afraid that if released, it might do some damage to our ecosystem.
 
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