Genetically altered salmon? It doesn't stop there

Seth Borenstein and Malcolm Ritter

WASHINGTON — We’ve always played with our food – even before we knew about genes or how to change them.

For thousands of years, humans have practiced selective breeding – pairing the beefiest bull with the healthiest heifers to start a new herd. That concept was refined to develop plant hybridization and artificial insemination. Today we’ve got tastier corn on sturdier stalks, bigger turkeys and meatier cattle.

Now comes an Atlantic salmon that is genetically engineered to grow twice as fast as a regular salmon. If U.S. regulators approve it, the fish would be the first such scientifically altered animal to reach the dinner plate.

Scientists have already determined that it’s safe to eat. They are weighing other factors, including environmental risks, after two days of intense hearings.

Whatever the decision on salmon, it’s only the start of things to come. In labs and on experimental farms are:

_ Vaccines and other pharmaceuticals grown in bananas and other plants.

_ Trademarked “Enviropigs” whose manure doesn’t pollute as much.

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