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May 20, 2018

Genetically-engineered-salmon farm awaits eggs

Fresh water is circulating through 68,684-gallon indoor tanks. Containment barriers are in place to prevent an escape. Facilitiy manager Pablo Bernal and other veteran Chilean fish farmers are on the job. Birds and dragonflies swoop and dart above wastewater treatment lagoons full of turtles. Security guards are on patrol; surveillance cameras are operating, and a chain-link fence topped with strands of barbed wire runs along the perimeter of the complex. Everything's virtually ready to start producing the world's first approved genetically engineered (GE) food-use animal, an Atlantic salmon trademarked as AquAdvantage Salmon. Its advantage is it reaches market size (about 5 kilograms, or 11 pounds) almost twice as fast as non-engineered Atlantic salmon.  Read the article.