Well, they will be easy to find at night for those who do ERP.
Steffen
> Von: Sajjad Lateef <sajjadlateef_at_yahoo.com>
> Antworten an: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Datum: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 08:01:08 -0800 (PST)
> An: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Betreff: NANFA-- News: GloFish in the news
>
> (URL is split into two lines.)
> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/yahoo/
> chi-0401120196jan12,1,4790750.story?coll=chi-newsaol-headlines
>
> Some see fluorescent fish as neon signs of trouble
>
> By John Keilman
> Tribune staff reporter
> Published January 12, 2004
>
> Past the shark lagoon and piranha tanks at a Park Ridge pet store dart
> tiny fish that some consider far more alarming.
>
> The glowing red and green swimmers at the Living Sea Aquarium represent
> the vanguard in the brave new world of genetically engineered pets
> being sold across the United States. Marketed under such names as
> "Night Light Fish" and selling for up to $30 apiece, they gleam like
> inch-long neon signs, thanks to DNA transferred from sea coral and
> jellyfish.
>
> The fish have existed for years and have been deemed safe by numerous
> scientists and government agencies. But their recent introduction to
> the American public--and the lack of regulations covering them--makes
> some people worry what other manmade critters might follow.
>
> "Not to make a pun, but I think it's shedding a light on serious
> regulatory and safety issues that are not getting much attention," said
> Art Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of
> Pennsylvania. "This is going to be a very important issue. The fish is
> just the first wave on the beach."
>
> The species that has jump-started the debate over genetically altered
> pets is the GloFish. Yorktown Technologies, an Austin, Texas-based
> company, has sold it for a month and rolled it out nationally last week
> at a suggested price of $5 per fish.
>
> The GloFish's red glimmer comes from a coral gene that was added to the
> embryo of a normal zebra fish, said Alan Blake, Yorktown's chief
> executive officer. Scientists in Singapore came up with the idea to
> monitor water quality, trying to get the fish to glow in the presence
> of toxins.
>
> Yorktown got the right to sell the fish in the U.S., but consulted with
> scientists and federal agencies for two years before offering it to
> hobbyists, Blake said.
>
> FDA passes on fish
>
> Food and Drug Administration officials said they didn't need to
> regulate the fish because people would not eat them, and because there
> was no evidence of an environmental threat. Scientists who reviewed
> research for California's Fish and Game Commission said the fish, if
> released into the wild, was unlikely to survive in the state's
> relatively cold waters.
>
> Despite those findings, the commission last month still refused to
> exempt the GloFish from California's ban on genetically engineered
> aquatic creatures, imposed in May. Commissioner Sam Schuchat wrote that
> "creating a novelty pet is a frivolous use of this technology. No
> matter how low the risk is, there needs to be a public benefit that is
> higher than this."
>
> Blake responded that GloFish were a byproduct of serious research, and
> that some of the proceeds would fund further studies, though a company
> spokesman declined to say how much.
>
> "We absolutely recognize that genetic technology carries with it
> incredible potential and incredible responsibility," Blake said. "We
> take that responsibility very seriously."
>
> The potential environmental effects of the other genetically engineered
> fish available in the U.S.--a rice fish whose implanted jellyfish DNA
> causes it to glow green--have proven worrisome elsewhere in the world.
> The Japanese government last year raised concerns that it could disrupt
> native species.
>
> Fish may be the first genetically altered creatures to reach the
> marketplace, but others may not be far behind. A New York company is
> trying to use gene splicing to create a cat that does not inflame
> allergies.
>
> The cloning expert doing the research, Dr. Jerry Yang of the University
> of Connecticut, said funding problems have slowed the work but that
> initial results are promising. He's been able to create embryos that
> are missing the allergen gene.
>
> He said his project was different from the glowing fish because
> allergen-free cats can occasionally be found in nature.
>
> "We don't think we're creating anything new," he said. "We're creating
> existing animals."
>
> Though Yang said his work is reviewed by university panels and animal
> welfare inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, critics say
> the government is not paying enough attention to genetically engineered
> pets.
>
> No single federal agency regulates transgenic animals, though USDA
> officials say they are evaluating whether they should play a role.
> Craig Culp of the Center for Food Safety, an advocacy group that works
> to curb technologies it says are harmful to health, worries that
> indifference could allow some altered species to get loose, wreaking
> havoc on the environment and food supply.
>
> "We're buying a fish that's been genetically engineered for our
> amusement and putting it into our kids' bedrooms without thinking of
> the ethical dimensions," he said. "It staggers the mind to think of
> what could come down the pike."
>
> States concerned
>
> Such concerns prompted California to restrict transgenic aquatic
> animals to research use, and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has three
> bills on her desk that would allow the state to outlaw certain
> genetically engineered creatures.
>
> "The GloFish is not our issue, but this technology could conceivably
> create species that would threaten our native fish stock," said
> spokesman Brad Wurfel of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
>
> The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is not considering a
> similar step, officials said.
>
> Some scientists fear that a public furor over transgenic pets could
> harm more serious inquiries. "There is the potential of the public not
> seeing the full application of genetic research," said Richard Winn, a
> University of Georgia professor who uses genetically engineered fish to
> examine the effects of pesticides and other chemicals. "If it seems
> trivial or unnecessary or a Frankenfish, it makes people turn off or be
> afraid of it."
>
> The GloFish has been selling briskly around the country, according to
> Yorktown Technologies. Sales of luminous fish have been good but not
> overwhelming at the Living Sea Aquarium, where a tank aglow with blue
> light accentuates their blazing color.
>
> "I see it as a popular color variation, but I don't see it dominating,"
> said manager Daryl Szyska. "There are so many species, why would you
> limit yourself to one?"
>
>
> =====
> --
> Sajjad Lateef e-mail: sajjad_at_acm.org
> Note: Any e-mail to me with my first name in Subject or
> without a subject line is automatically filtered out
> and discarded as s p a m .
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