First GMO Atlantic salmon ready to make waves

BIOTECH company AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. recently received US FDA approval for its New Animal Drug Application for growing AquAdvantage^® Salmon. Through this product, the company makes history as the first to develop genetically modified Atlantic salmon.

The drug application enables the production, sale, and consumption of its AquAdvantage^® Salmon, which is enhanced to grow to market size at a shorter term as compared to farmed salmon.

Another feature of this breakthrough is that salmon can be grown in a land-based aquaculture system, an environmentally responsible alternative to fish farming that won’t endanger other marine habitats, said Ronald L. Stotish, Ph.D., CEO of AquaBounty. Fish farmers will be able to reduce their carbon footprint while producing safe, traceable, and sustainable fish.  

As the US imports nearly 95% of Atlantic seafood, this innovation is seen as a commercially viable aquaculture industry.

But as with GMO products, the genetically modified salmon is not welcome news for a number of environmental advocates. Already they are suing the Canadian government for producing GMO salmon eggs and shipping these to Panama, according to a report in FoodDIVE. The genetic makeup of AquAdvantage^® Salmon could mix with wild fish even if measures are being undertaken to prevent this, they said.

AquaBounty Technologies is a publicly traded company whose largest shareholder is Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), a synthetic biology company.