January 11, 2006

Fast-breeding salmon may reach US market 2008

US company Aqua Bounty Technologies has created a breed of salmon that grows twice as fast as normal farmed salmon. The company is in the final stages of a five-year process to get the product approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, which has yet to approve any transgenic animal for human consumption.

If the company succeeds, the salmon could become the first such product on the market. The fish is expected to reach the market by 2008.

The salmon's fast growth is due to a modification made to one of its 40,000 genes in its DNA. In a normal salmon, the gene that controls the production of growth hormone is activated by light, hence the fish generally grows only during summer.

By attaching a promoter sequence--part of a specific gene--from another type of fish called the ocean pout, the company has created a salmon that produces growth hormone all year round.

These biotech fish is not likely to look or taste different, but will allow the average salmon producer to cut costs 35 percent for each fish, while at the same time doubling output, according to Aqua Bounty Technologies business owner Elliot Entis.