• Washington Post, Marketplace, Tuesday, September 21, 2010 10:52 AM

Activists yesterday threw out their best lines against a genetically modified fish for which AquaBounty has been trying to gain Food and Drug Administration approval since 1995. Dubbed "Frankenfish" by opponents, it's an Atlantic salmon with a growth hormone gene from a Chinook salmon, as well as an "antifreeze" gene from the eel-like ocean pout. It can grow to market size in 18 months, half the usual time, Lyndsey Layton reports.

"Science cannot prove that this new gene-spliced salmon is safe for human consumption over a long period of time," Darrell Rogers of the Alliance for Natural Health told a panel of experts convened by the FDA. "This recklessly and needlessly endangers human health." FDA scientists who reviewed the company's application, however, believe the modified salmon is as safe any other salmon. And they also say that the likelihood they'll establish themselves in the wild is remote.

The headline for the transcript of Sarah Gardner's story for "Marketplace" frames the controversy in a different light: "Genetically Modified Food v. World Hunger." AquaBounty CEO Ron Stotish hopes the FDA will see the superfish as part of the solution to food supply problems.

"With a growing world population and increased demand for a safe and healthy food -- and salmon certainly is high protein and it's considered a heart-healthy food -- the requirement for salmon from aquaculture is increasing," he says.

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