Genetically engineered salmon gets the green light

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued the first approval for a genetically engineered animal intended for food.

AquAdvantage Salmon, developed by AquaBounty Technologies, is an Atlantic salmon that reaches market size more quickly than non-GE, farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

“The FDA has thoroughly analysed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquAdvantage Salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat,” said Bernadette Dunham, DVM, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Among the requirements AquaBounty Technologies had to meet are that food from the fish is safe to eat; the rDNA construct (the piece of DNA that makes the salmon grow faster) is safe for the fish itself; and the AquAdvantage Salmon meets the claim about faster growth. In addition, the FDA determined that food from AquAdvantage Salmon is as safe to eat and as nutritious as food from other, non-GE Atlantic salmon, and that there are no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

The approval does not allow AquAdvantage Salmon to be bred or raised in the United States. It may only be raised in land-based, contained hatchery tanks in two specific facilities in Canada and Panama.

The FDA has determined that the approval of the AquAdvantage Salmon application would not have a significant environmental impact because of the measures being taken to contain the fish and prevent their escape and establishment in the environment, including a series of physical barriers placed in the tanks and in the plumbing that carries water out of the facilities to prevent the escape of eggs and fish. In addition, the AquAdvantage Salmon are reproductively sterile so that even in the highly unlikely event of an escape, they would be unable to interbreed or establish populations in the wild.