Church of God News

Restaurants could be 1st to get genetically modified salmon

June 21, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — Inside an Indiana aquafarming complex, thousands of salmon eggs genetically modified to grow faster than normal are hatching into tiny fish. After growing to roughly 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) in indoor tanks, they could be served in restaurants by late next year.

The salmon produced by AquaBounty are the first genetically modified animals approved for human consumption in the U.S. They represent one way companies are pushing to transform the plants and animals we eat, even as consumer advocacy groups call for greater caution.

AquaBounty hasn’t sold any fish in the U.S. yet, but it says its salmon may first turn up in places like restaurants or university cafeterias, which would decide whether to tell diners that the fish are genetically modified.

“It’s their customer, not ours,” said Sylvia Wulf, AquaBounty’s CEO.

To produce its fish, Aquabounty injected Atlantic salmon with DNA from other fish species that make them grow to full size in about 18 months, which could be about twice as fast as regular salmon. https://www.apnews.com/ef674ab9b2ad48b39a7203d9535e3957

There are so many potential risks with this, but the US and Canadian governments are allowing it anyway.

I reported about the GMO-salmon earlier this month:

Artificial salmon gut developed to ease cost, time in feed trials

04-Jun-2019 By Aerin Einstein-Curtis

SalmoSim developed an artificial salmon gut as a way to reduce feeding trial costs and examine prebiotic and probiotic efficacy for the salmon industry. https://www.feednavigator.com/Article/2019/06/04/Artificial-salmon-gut-developed-to-ease-cost-time-in-feed-trials

Salmon hatchery to raise nation’s first genetically modified animal cleared for human consumption

A fish hatchery in Indiana is set to raise the nation’s first genetically engineered animal for human consumption – genetically engineered salmon. The gene-altered fish is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA), and bred by AquaBounty Technologies, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company.

AquaBounty altered the genetic makeup of the atlantic Salmon to include a gene from Chinook salmon and the DNA sequence from an eel-like species know as an ocean pout, resulting in a salmon that grows to market size about twice as fast as its natural counterpart.

The company already breeds the salmon in Canada, and last week received its first batch of bioengineered eggs at its indoor facility, located in Albany, Indiana. They expect their genetically engineered salmon fillets to debut in U.S. supermarkets in late 2020. …

The FDA claims AquaBounty salmon and conventional salmon are both safe to eat, and say that so far there is no scientific data suggesting that genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) are detrimental to the health of humans. And Muir, who used government data to study the dangers of wild salmon being exposed to the genetically modified salmon, declared that “many of the fears surrounding GMO foods are overblown.”¹

“These people who are anti-GMO are not data-driven, they are agenda-driven. And their agenda was to make sure a GMO product was never on a dinner plate,” he said …

Sylvia Wulf, CEO of AquaBounty, contends both wild and genetically modified salmon have the same nutritional value, thus there is no need for labeling in Canada. Westgate, of The Non-GMO Project, disagrees, saying consumers are robbed of choice when there is a lack of transparency, stating:

“People should know what’s in their food. It’s a transgenic species, a combination of three fish. A lot of people just feel it’s unnatural, and it’s not fish they’d want to feed to their children.”¹

Sadly, genetically altering the food we eat is nothing new. The United States has been genetically engineering crops since the 1990’s, making them resistant to insects and pesticides. 06/03/19 https://www.healthnutnews.com/salmon-hatchery-to-raise-nations-first-genetically-modified-animal-cleared-for-human-consumption/

This is going the wrong direction. We need to turn away from such.

As far as implying that the pro-GMO forces are “data driven,” the reality is that they are money driven. The Bible warns:

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10)

And that is what is happening in the GMO/CRISPR world to a major degree. Financial and other forms of greed are driving much of this.

THE FACT IS THAT THERE IS NO WAY THAT THE PRO-GMO FORCES CAN HAVE ENOUGH DATA TO PROVE WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS NOT DANGEROUS. At minimum, in order to get the kind of data to truly demonstrate safety, studies involving AT LEAST thousands (millions would be better) of humans over a period of at least 90 years would need to be done–and this has never happened. The pro-GMO forces act like they are wise and have facts on their side, but the facts remain that what they are doing is dangerous and when it comes to using human genes, also immoral. They have not, and cannot, test for all possible complications associated with what they are doing.

The Bible warns:

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:20-22)

This whole GMO and human editing experiment has had negative consequences and will have more in the future.

We made a recent video that mentioned this GMO salmon:

15:47

GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation: Safe or Dangerous?

Genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) have been in the US food supply for over 20 years. Are they safe? Which ten GMO plants are now widely commercially available? What about laboratory-grown ‘meat.? Hydrogenated trans-fatty acid products have been consumed for over 100 years. Are they safe? Certain scientists claim that the data proves the safety of GMOs and lab-meat. But do they have enough data? Are the proponents of GMOs and lab-meat driven by data or greed? How long is long enough to test these ‘foods’? Can overly processed foods lead to type 2 diabetes or dementia? Are there allergy, gene-transfer, and outcrossing risks with GMOs? What risks does the World Health Organization say that GMOs pose? Do studies involving animals show real dangers with GMOs? On June 11, 2019, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order reducing government oversight over GMO plants and animals. Was this wise or dangerous? Is the food supply at any risk? What did Jesus teach? What does the Bible teach that God’s people should eat?

Here is a link to the video: GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation: Safe or Dangerous?

BBC reported about what it called an animal that would be half-human and half-pig. Is such a thing possible? Are chimeras for real? What about a “humanzee”? Are scientists really working on these type of creatures? Is this good? Can something truly be half human and half animal? How are humans different from animals? What is the ‘spirit in man’? What is man? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more with biblical-based responses.