We can build whatever animal you want to eat, say scientists

news.com.au ^

[Scythian]

TINKER with the genetics of salmon and maybe you create a revolutionary new food source that could help the environment and feed the hungry.

Or maybe you're creating what some say is an untested "frankenfish" that could cause unknown allergic reactions and the eventual decimation of the wild salmon population.

The US Food and Drug Administration hears both arguments this week when it begins a two-day meeting on whether to approve the marketing of the genetically engineered fish, which would be the first such animal approved for human consumption.

The agency has already said the salmon, which grows twice as fast as conventional salmon, is as safe to eat as the traditional variety.

Approval of the salmon would open the door for a variety of other genetically engineered animals, including an environmentally friendly pig that is being developed in Canada or cattle that are resistant to mad cow disease.

[humblegunner]

I don’t know much about framing

Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction,
is a building technique based around structural members,
usually called studs, which provide a stable frame
to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached,
and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling
joists and sloping rafters (together forming a truss
structure) or manufactured pre-fabricated roof trusses—all
of which are covered by various sheathing materials to give weather resistance.

[Vigilanteman]

I always thought that grazing land for cattle was about the same as land used to grow wheat and corn.

Ever visit large parts of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and the western Dakotas where livestock grazing thrives but growing wheat and corn would not be commercially viable?

[Malone LaVeigh]

Y'all know where this is really heading ...

[KarlInOhio]

I think we should call them on their bluff and request Wooly Mammoth Stakes

I want a car flipping big slab of brontosaurus ribs.

[greatdefender]

[Dead Corpse]

Pepper grilled Manticore. Yum...

How about some Unicorn sausage?

[Hodar]

Good point.

Consider, Wild Turkeys are extremely smart and difficult to hunt. They have a keen sense of sight, and many hunters come home with nothing to show for their efforts.

Contrast this to commercially grown turkey; these animals are so stupid that you put marbles in the feed trough to get them to eat. They peck at the marble, and miss and accidentally get a mouth full of food. They are kept indoors because they will look up when it rains and drown themselves.

Yet, these huge commercial birds do not contaminate the wild birds. Essentially these birds are too stupid to survive outside of a commercial farm.

[the invisib1e hand]

something about this really turns me off.

leave the freaking salmon alone, please.

Go engineer something useful. they won't be happy until they got you believing you can get everything you need from a pill.

[Dead Corpse]

Wanna save an endangered species? Convince a bunch of folks that they taste good.

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

[Sawdring]

Ever visit large parts of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and the western Dakotas where livestock grazing thrives but growing wheat and corn would not be commercially viable?

I just drove through Montana on Highway 2 and US 94. Montana has never looked so lush and green in the middle of July. Every section of land seemed to be growing nicely with wheat.

[Notary Sojac]

I’d like some spotted owl. With whale stuffing.

[subterfuge]

I’ll have the Endangered Species Kabob grilled over moon rocks please.

[DoughtyOne]

I’m not taking a stand on this pro or con. I do find there to be some reasoned questions concerning it though.

Those fish farms generally raised large numbers of traditional fish, perhaps engineering them to be an improved version.

These are a little different, in that they are genetically engineered.

What happens when these fish are introduced into streams across the nation. Let’s be frank. It will happen.

Is it of concern that the original fish may be eradicated by this dominant version? Could other fish be impacted negatively if that happens?

I don’t think this is without any possible negative aspects.

[Hodar]

Maybe you know this already. But various segments of land have a cattle/acre rating while others have acres/cow rating. This is primarily dictated by annual rainfall.

In many places (eastern Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska) the rainfall is sufficient that 0.5-1.2 cattle/acre are possible. However, when the rainfall is this good; it’s usually more profitable to raise grain. However, many farmers opt to diversify both cattle and grain in case to reduce the fiscal risk.

[WOBBLY BOB]

I would love a bacon wrapped turkey...it’s delicious.

Can they make one of those and have it jump onto my smoker?

[toast]

Go engineer something useful.

You don't think a salmon that can grow twice as fast as usual is useful?

[Hodar]

IMHO, I believe they opted for Salmon is that the fish is highly prolific, matures fast, is a high protein source and the fish has a wide temperature and salt water tolerance. This fish should grow well all over the world.

May not sound tastey to you; but to a guy starving in Africa - I’m sure it’s better than Rock Soup.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

leave the freaking salmon alone, please.

Why the salmon in particular? We certainly haven't left the cattle, pigs or poultry alone - they've been genetically modified by us using artificial selection through all of man's recorded history.

Go engineer something useful.

This is useful. It could make cheap seafood and meat easily available to every person in the world eventually. Farming of genetically modified salmon would also mean an end to overfishing of wild salmon.

[Smokin' Joe]

Often steeper terrain and/or rockier soil, at least in these parts. You can grow grass in the cracks in a sidewalk, not so corn.

If you want to really free up some prime agricultural land, tear down the suburbs. Most of them sprang up in the farm fields around the towns that formed at railheads, road junctions, and river ports where those crops used to get shipped out.