Why is the FDA about to rubber-stamp GE salmon?

The Author Points Out:

Given the committee's lack of expertise on genetic engineering and fish, the FDA added four "temporary voting members" for the GE salmon meeting.

Let's take a closer look at these experts charged with objectively evaluating the risk to the public.

• Alison L. Van Eenennaam: A former Monsanto employee, Van Eenennaam works as a cooperative extension specialist in animal biotechnology and genomics at University of California-Davis. She also serves on the USDA's heavily pro-genetic engineering Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21). Van Eenennaam has been vocal about her support for genetically engineering animals. She recently produced a YouTube video called "Animal Biotechnology" that compares genetic engineering and cloning to traditional animal breeding, artificial insemination, and in vitro insemination, as if they were all equally benign "biotechnologies." The video oversimplifies genetic engineering, suggesting that scientists simply cut some DNA from one genome and paste it into another (almost as if it were as simple as using the Cut and Paste functions on your computer). But genetic engineering is highly imprecise. It takes many tries to successfully "paste" the genes into the DNA of the target species, and scientists have little control over where in the DNA the genes land. GE animals tend to have far higher rates of deformities than nature does. In the case of the GE salmon, AquaBounty Technologies successfully implanted its packet of genes into two separate locations in the Atlantic salmon's DNA, and they had a different outcome from each. The genes pasted into one location resulted in faster-growing fish; the same genes pasted into a different location in the same DNA did not.

  Van Eenennaam's primary work is not fish, but she has some background on GE fish. In publications, she has stated that genetically engineered fish will provide many benefits, such as increased feed-conversion efficiency, providing "economic and potential environmental benefits such as reduced feed waste and effluent from fish farms." Her primary concern with GE fish is the difficulty in containing them, as farmed fish can escape, survive in wild ecosystems, and breed with wild populations.

• Kevin G. Wells: Also a genetic engineering expert, Wells has directly performed genetic engineering, working on the creation of a mastitis-resistant GE cow while he worked at the USDA in its Gene Evaluation and Mapping Laboratory. Like Van Eenennaam, he is more familiar with cows than fish. In his role at USDA, he worked on "communication of embryo and genome manipulation technologies to the public."

  Today, Wells is an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia, in the division of animal sciences. He is also the senior scientist, project manager, and department head of embryology and cell biology at Revivicor Inc. (formerly PPL Therapeutics), a Virginia-based spinout company from the UK company that created the cloned sheep Dolly. Revivicor works on genetically engineering pigs for use in human medicine. In other words, Wells has a bit of a professional and financial stake in the approval process for the GE salmon, as his employer, Revivicor Inc., will need the government to also approve its genetically engineered animals.

• Gary Thorgaard: The lone fish expert on the entire committee. However, his specialization is in polyploidy, fish with extra complete sets of chromosomes. This is important in the GE salmon hearing, as the GE salmon are all female triploids (fish with three complete sets of chromosomes instead of two). Obviously, there is an importance in the committee understanding triploidy, as any differences observed in a GE triploid salmon (compared to a non-GE diploid) may be attributable to either the genetic engineering, triploidy, or both. Furthermore, the containment of the genetically engineered salmon will be an important issue in the hearing, and triploidy is the method used to ensure that most (but not all) of the fish will be sterile. But the hearing will cover much more ground than triploidy.
• Gregory Jaffe: Last and perhaps most concerning, the committee's supposed consumer advocate is a lawyer (not a scientist) representing the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an organization that favors the use of agricultural biotechnology. Like Van Eeenennaam, he has served on AC21, from 2004 to 2008. His views can be seen in a paper he wrote called "Creating the Proper Environment for Acceptance of Agricultural Biotechnology." In it he states CSPI's unequivocal support for agricultural biology and his belief that genetically engineered crops have increased productivity and farmer income while reducing pesticide use, and that GE crops are safe for humans and the environment. Each of these conclusions is controversial, and credible evidence abounds disproving each, give or take the claim on farmer income.

  Jaffe completes the paper by tackling what he sees as the true threat of biotechnology -- public acceptance of GE foods. He calls for "a strong, but not stifling, regulatory system." He also calls for the regulatory system to be "transparent and participatory" with "independent risk assessment research that informs the public and regulators." Sounds good, but a full reading of the paper makes it apparent that perhaps his interest in regulation is intended more as a public show to convince the public to eat GE foods, than a true review of the safety of GE products. In a more recent article, "Questions About Genetically Engineered Animals," Jaffe expresses optimism that genetically engineered animals, including the AquAdvantage salmon, will provide environmental or health benefits.

Looking at this stacked committee, Consumers Union in its letter recommends adding "three fish ecologists, four food safety experts (including specialists in food allergies and in the effects of hormones on human health), and scientists from the consumer and environmental community ... to the Committee, to provide appropriate balance and expertise."