Genetically modified salmon can breed with wild salmon

[The Straight Story]

Transgenic salmon may not be as interested in the opposite sex as their wild, robust counterparts - but they do have enough sex drive to alter natural populations.

That's the conclusion of a team of Canadian scientists who observed the breeding behavior of laboratory-reared, genetically modified salmon and wild salmon for two years.

"It's possible for genetic modification to enter wild populations through natural sexual reproduction," Darek Moreau, a researcher in evolutionary ecology at Memorial University in Canada, told the Montreal Gazette.

The researchers say they're not sure what the evolutionary and ecological ramifications of their results are. However, the study highlights the need to make certain that transgenic fish hatcheries are kept far from wild populations, where they could intermingle with native fish.

http://www.news10.net/news/article/146325/339/Genetically-modified-salmon-can-breed-with-wild-salmon

[piratefish08]

1. our species just will not stop until we've fucked up every single last good thing on the planet

fuck

[immoderate]

2. Does a "population control" gene have a future in natural selection?

Hard to see how that would work.

--imm