GMO Salmon

GMO Salmon

By: Sara Operacz, Torry Yu, Amara Khzouz, Myia Bennett

Two salmon are swimming down the stream on a nice sunny day. However, one of these fish is not like the other. It has been genetically modified (GM) by scientists so they would grow faster and larger than the other. On this sunny day, food levels are high and the presence of the GM Salmon does not affect the growth or survival of the natural salmon. However, this is a rare occasion in nature and it does not occur every season. It is survival of the fittest between the salmon as food is scarce most seasons; in this case, the salmon that has been genetically modified, will win more often than not. Though the non-GM salmon will survive the long haul once the weaker fish had been starved off by the GM salmon. The GM salmon are aggressive in protecting their food, and once the food sources runs out, the fish begin eating the other non GM salmon. non-GM In turn affecting the population and overall ecosystem.

What are ecosystems?  

Ecosystems are a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment (University of Michigan and ESchoolToday) .  In simpler terms an ecosystem is an interaction of biotic and abiotic (living and nonliving) things within a given area.  Living things consist of plants, animals, and other organisms.  Non-living things are things that impact an ecosystem such as the earth, atmosphere, weather, sun, soil, and climate.  As you can imagine all of these biotic and abiotic things interact with each other in many different ways.  So when one interaction or organism is affected in any way than everything else that is associated or interacted with that organism is also affected.  It is a domino effect on everything else within that ecosystem.  An example of an ecosystem can be a forest, pond, grassland, etc.  Energy and matter changes into many different forms and is recycled throughout the ecosystem.  Ecosystems deal a lot with many different organisms and their genes and they all depend on each other when energy is flowing through an ecosystem.  One change in that organism's gene can affect the flow of energy and matter because everything interacts and depends on each other.

What is a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) exactly?

One of the ways an organism’s gene can affect the flow of energy within an ecosystem is if it has been genetically modified.  What is a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) exactly? According to Winter Ridge Natural Foods, genetically modified organisms are new organisms, not always found in nature, that are genetically modified or engineered by scientists. When scientists create these genetically modified organisms by altering the genetic code of the organisms through crossbreeding and/or adding artificial chemicals, it can determine their genotypes and phenotypes.  When the central dogma of these organisms’ genes are modified, it can affect that entire population and other organisms that interact with that GMO.

Scientists have modified many different organisms, including tomatoes and soybeans. An article from The Huffington Post states that there is much debate around GMOs, both for and against it. The major arguments against GMOs is the environmental impact that these organisms will have once they have been genetically modified and there is not a lot of knowledge on the long-term effects on the ecosystem. The goal of this article is to inform readers how GMO Salmon impacts the ecosystem.

How Do Coho Salmon Affect the Environment?

Coho salmon GMOs were created to make salmon grow faster and bigger than the Atlantic Salmon based on consumer demand.  The big questions is how do these GMO Coho Salmons effect the environment?  Many  articles introduced the problem of the Salmon escaping the facilities.  If this does occur they could impact the natural environment through gene flow, competition for food and habitat, or disease (Upton and Tadlock).  From observations they have shown consequences of the growth enhancement transgenes.  According to (Upton and Tadlock) the observations showed an increase in growth rates, aggression, and risky behaviors, to hunger and increased metabolism, lower reproductive success, and decreased disease resistance, all of which may affect the spread of transgenes and the impact of wild populations.  However, since these tests and observations are completed and assessed in a contained environment scientists don’t know the extent of the effects on the environment.

Impact of GMO Salmon through gene flow.

    To address some of these concerns, these companies will produce all female eggs which will have 3 chromosomes per cell, instead of the normal diploid cell, containing two chromosomes which also results in not being able to reproduce (Upton and Tadlock).  The contained conditions that the salmon are kept in during treatment and observation, there is a slight chance they could escape from malfunction in the containment facility.  If this does happen, they will flow downstream where there are rainbow trouts and will have to experience different living conditions which could result in risk of survival for the salmon.  However, there is a chance that if the salmon survive in coastal water, the induced triploidy is not always 100% and the Salmon could reproduce.  The article states that if the salmon escape,  it is very important to think about what the effects could be on the environment.  As mentioned before the degree of harm that could affect the environment is through genes, competition, or disease.

    Research has shown that escaped commercially produced fish can reproduce with wild fish and can introduce their genes to the population (Upton and Tadlock).  According to (Upton and Tadlock), observations of a Pacific Salmon hatchery program showed that farmed Pacific Salmon did not reproduce as well as wild salmon when they were in natural habitats, and suggested that inbreeding would produce less successful pacific salmon.  Research has shown that breeding between the wild and the farmed salmon could produce less viable hybrids.  Eventually extinction could be a result of the low offspring production (Upton and Tadlock).  Competition is another impact that GMO salmon have on the environment.

Impact of GMO Salmon Through Competition of Food and Habitat.

A study on the Atlantic Salmon shows the impact of the feeding habits compared between the transgenic salmon and the non-transgenic salmon.  Transgenic Salmon were more willing to take risks than non- transgenic salmon (Upton and Tadlock).  According to Upton and Tadlock, the transgenic salmon moved twice as fast and were able to eat about five times as much food as the non-GMO Salmon.  The transgenic salmon also lose some of their camouflage and look more silvery which could also attract more predators. These examples are able to show us the impact of competition can have on the ecosystem if GMO salmon escape.

Impact of GMO Salmon Through Disease.

    Lastly, disease is the greatest problem facing the aquaculture (Upton and Tadlock).  According to Upton and Tadlock, the high densities of fish kept in farms and closed containers, alterations from natural diets, and nutrient deficiencies are common consequences and can contribute to increased disease in farmed fish.  Scientists have found that GMO Coho Salmon are more vulnerable to pathogens (Upton and Tadlock).  If these Salmon escaped and carried a disease to the new ecosystem and infect the non transgenic salmon, it could change the ecosystem and affect the population in that specific environment.

    In a Congressional Research Service report published in December 2015, it mentions how AquaBounty Technologies has tried to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1995 for its GM salmon, AquAdvantage Salmon. AquaBounty Technologies submitted its final report in 2009 to the FDA for its new animal drug (NAD) application. Currently, the FDA is regulating genetically engineered foods before they are released to the public. The NAD is only approved only if the drug is shown to be safe and effective. AquAdvantage Salmon was found safe as food by the FDA, and that there are no significant food safety hazards or risks associated with the product. Despite the approval, there are still some environmental concerns regarding the use of GM salmon as it relates to competition and interbreeding with wild fish. There are some who are concerned that the AquAdvantage Salmon may mix with the wild Atlantic salmon, which would then introduce the GM into the wild population. Other concerns that have surfaced since its approval involve “food safety, labeling of GE salmon, and economic effects on existing wild salmon fisheries,” according to the December report. Since its approval, there have been several pieces of legislation that has gone through the United States Senate and House of Representatives as it pertains to the labeling system of GM foods.

Why does this matter to us, the general public?  Why should we bother to care about GMO salmon?  

To be honest, there was never a requirement for any companies to label their products as GMO by the FDA.  That alone should spark a question as to why the food we purchase and consume at family dinner is not labeled.  We are not informed buyers which seems a little sketchy.  According to Pharma & Healthcare Forbes.com the FDA just approved the first GMO fish in 2015 called AquaAdvantage.  There are benefits but with benefits there are always risks.  While only one type of fish was approved what about all the others?  Tilapia, Coho Salmon, Trout, etc?  We are part of an ecosystem and therefore we are affected by these GMO fish.  If the FDA will not require labels than it is up to us to inform ourselves to make a judgement on what fish to consume.  Whenever you purchased salmon you see the bright pretty pink color.  Salmon is not naturally that bright of a color, but farmers alter the color to make it more appealing to the consumer's eye.  These are important aspects to know.  An entire ecosystem can be affect by just one GMO.  

Glossary

Triploidy:

An extra set of chromosomes, three sets, or 69 chromosomes.

Genetically Modified:

Organisms whose genetic material has been altered to produce a desired characteristic.

Chromosomes:

A structure that contains genetic information.

Ecosystems:

    A community of living and nonliving organism interacting within an environment.

Crossbreeding:  

    An animal that is created by mating specie types of an organism.

Transgene:

A transgene is a gene or genetic material that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene has the potential to change the phenotype of an organism.

Central Dogma:

The central dogma of molecular biology explains the flow of genetic information, from DNA to RNA to make a functional product, a protein.

Genotype:

The genetic makeup of an organism or group of organisms with reference to a single trait, set of traits, or an entire complex of traits.  The sum of all genes transmitted from parent to offspring.

Phenotype:

The appearance of an organism (physical characteristics) resulting from the interaction of the genotype and the environment.

Works Cited

ESchooltoday. "What Is an Ecosystem?" What Is an Ecosystem? N.p., n.d. Web. 17  
       Oct. 2016.

Heather, Landry. “Challenging Evolution: How GMOs Can Influence Genetic Diversity - Science in the News.” Science in the News, 12 Aug. 2015, http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/challenging-evolution-how-gmos-can-influence-genetic-diversity/

Sonima.com. “Understanding the Controversy and Science of GMOs.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sonimacom/gmos_b_7880026.html.

Upton, Harold F, and Tadlock Cowan. “Genetically Engineered Salmon.” Fas.com, 8 Dec. 2015, https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/r43518.pdf+.

“What Does ‘GMO’ Mean?” Winter Ridge Natural Foods RSS, 3 Oct. 2012, http://winterridgefoods.com/what-exactly-does-gmo-mean.