GE salmon – no significant impact on the environment?

The AquAdvantage salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies of Massachusetts, USA, is an Atlantic salmon modified with a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon to make it grow to maturity faster. Two years ago, the Food and Drug Administration in the USA (FDA) had announced it was going to release its environmental assessment on the salmon within weeks. It was finally posted on the FDA’s website during Christmas, Forbes reports.

The FDA’s preliminary finding is that an approval of the application concerning AquAdvantage Salmon, under the specific conditions proposed in the application, would not have a significant impact on the USA environment. The FDA release paves the way for a 60-day public review. The FDA will then evaluate the public comments and consider a second review period. Unless some dramatically new information emerges from the public responses, the GM salmon could be on dinner tables by 2014. More information is available here: Forbes