Growth hormone (GH) transgenic salmon doesn’t reproduce faster than wild-type salmon, but transgenic salmon can reproduce with wild-type fish, a new study shows. GH transgenic salmon contains a chinook salmon growth hormone gene fused to an ocean pout antifreeze gene which significantly accelerate its growth rates.
Researchers reared salmon in large (350,000 L), semi-natural, seawater tanks designed to minimize effects of standard laboratory culture conditions, and found similar reproductive success in both wild-type and GH transgenic coho salmon. Transgenic salmon can be produced on commercials-scale in Canada, but cannot be sold yet to consumers.
Original research paper published in the journal PLoS ONE on August 18, 2014.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
