The concerning rise of GMO food animals, Man playing god what could go wrong ???

health conscious and safe food advocates are well aware of genetically modified organisms (GMO) such as the corn that Monsanto designed to withstand heavier exposures to its juggernaut herbicide Roundup.

Less publicized, however, are GMO food animals. Judging from ongoing research, the companies making these creatures hope they will increasingly find their way onto Americans’ plates in the years ahead. The AquAdvantage salmon was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015, but other GMO animals are under development.

The AquAdvantage salmon was created by inserting the coding sequence from a Chinook salmon growth-hormone gene under the control of an “antifreeze protein promoter and terminator” from the eel-like ocean pout into wild Atlantic salmon.

Designed to grow twice as fast as normal salmon, it was the first GMO animal approved by the FDA. According to a food industry website, the Counter, the AquAdvantage salmon is sold in Canada, but more than 85 grocery chains, food service companies, restaurants, and seafood companies have pledged to boycott it for both food safety and environmental reasons.

In addition to concerns about the product itself, the safety of wild salmon populations is threatened by such GMO animals if they escape. (Think Jurassic Park.)

While both the FDA and the AquAdvantage (AAS) salmon’s creator, AquaBounty, claim the GMO salmon is safe to eat, the FDA briefing packet disseminated for 2010 hearings revealed such red flags as a higher incidence of “jaw erosion” and “focal inflammation” (infection) seen in the AAS salmon; no way to determine if greater allergy risks existed because of the excessive culling of “abnormal” AAS salmon; and a possible “increase in the level of IGF-1,” insulin-like growth factor-1, in the AAS salmon.




In 2011, scientists at the China Agricultural University introduced human genes into dairy cows to produce milk closer in composition to that of humans. The goal was to have milk from GMO cows sold in supermarkets and positioned as an alternative to formula and human breast milk for babies. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In 2011, scientists at the China Agricultural University introduced human genes into dairy cows to produce milk closer in composition to that of humans. The goal was to have milk from GMO cows sold in supermarkets and positioned as an alternative to formula and human breast milk for babies. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
NUTRITION
The Concerning Rise of GMO Food Animals
A quiet effort is underway to maximize profits by manipulating the genes of food animals
BY MARTHA ROSENBERG TIMEJUNE 30, 2022 PRINT
The health conscious and safe food advocates are well aware of genetically modified organisms (GMO) such as the corn that Monsanto designed to withstand heavier exposures to its juggernaut herbicide Roundup.

Less publicized, however, are GMO food animals. Judging from ongoing research, the companies making these creatures hope they will increasingly find their way onto Americans’ plates in the years ahead. The AquAdvantage salmon was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015, but other GMO animals are under development.

The AquAdvantage salmon was created by inserting the coding sequence from a Chinook salmon growth-hormone gene under the control of an “antifreeze protein promoter and terminator” from the eel-like ocean pout into wild Atlantic salmon.

Designed to grow twice as fast as normal salmon, it was the first GMO animal approved by the FDA. According to a food industry website, the Counter, the AquAdvantage salmon is sold in Canada, but more than 85 grocery chains, food service companies, restaurants, and seafood companies have pledged to boycott it for both food safety and environmental reasons.

In addition to concerns about the product itself, the safety of wild salmon populations is threatened by such GMO animals if they escape. (Think Jurassic Park.)

While both the FDA and the AquAdvantage (AAS) salmon’s creator, AquaBounty, claim the GMO salmon is safe to eat, the FDA briefing packet disseminated for 2010 hearings revealed such red flags as a higher incidence of “jaw erosion” and “focal inflammation” (infection) seen in the AAS salmon; no way to determine if greater allergy risks existed because of the excessive culling of “abnormal” AAS salmon; and a possible “increase in the level of IGF-1,” insulin-like growth factor-1, in the AAS salmon.

Moreover, FDA food scientists and outside experts who had been called in for the hearings noted unexplained discrepancies, omitted data, and overall substandard science presented by those promoting the AAS salmon.

More FDA GMO Approvals
In 2020, the FDA approved the second GMO animal, an “intentional genomic alteration” (IGA) in pigs. The lab-created animal, called a “GalSafe” pig, is designed to eliminate a substance found on the surface of pigs’ cells called “alpha-gal sugar” that could cause people with alpha-gal (AGS) syndrome to have an allergic reaction. AGS sensitizes someone to allergic reactions to beef, pork, and lamb usually after a tick bite. The GMO animal was created by removing the gene for alpha-1, 3-galactosyltransferase, which “attaches alpha-galactose sugars to cell surfaces,” Medpage Today reported.

GMO animals are already used in the laboratory. In the 1980s, transgenic mice were created by inserting human genes and a sheep with human genes was created in 1997. GMO animals are also used in medical and non-food applications. In 2009, the FDA approved an anti-clotting drug made from goats that had the human gene for antithrombin inserted and linked to their DNA.



More Livestock Genetic Engineering
In 2006, research published in the journal Nature Biotechnology describes the “generation of cloned pigs that express a humanized Caenorhabditis elegans gene, fat-1, encoding an n-3 fatty acid desaturase,” in order to produce pork with more “good” omega-3 fatty acids and less “bad” omega-6 fatty acids that are usually found in meat.

In 2010, researchers created a GMO pig by adding mouse and E. coli phytase genes to its DNA, and the creature was approved in Canada. Dubbed the “Enviropig,” it was said to produce less phosphorus in its urine and feces and be less destructive to the environment but the pigs were killed in 2012 when funding ran out.

In addition to creating animals that are more environmentally friendly or that have better nutritional profiles for human consumption, in 2007, United Kingdom scientists at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, announced that they had produced genetically modified chickens to lay eggs that contain cancer-fighting drugs according to the BBC.



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