After reading this article (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WireStory?id=3599296&page=2) (my link option is having issues right now) I have come to the conclusion that I need to start thinking outside of the box more often. If you are too lazy to read “Salmon Spawn Baby Trout in Experiment” I’ll sum it up for you really quickly. Scientists are injecting Salmon with male Trout cells to produce Trout. These trials have shown great success and scientists are excited at the prospect of being able to augment the growth rate of endangered fish species including the Sockeye Salmon of Idaho and the Blue Fin Tuna of Japan. But lets just think about what this means for a second. Salmon are having Trout babies. Just to make sure that you are grasping the ridiculousness of this accomplishment lets use dogs to think about the experiment. They’re not talking about a Labrador and a Poodle having a Labradoodle, They’re talking about a Lab getting injected with Poodle cells and producing a white puff-ball 9 months (or whatever the dog equivalent is) later. Obviously the genetic make up of a dog is more complex than that of a fish, but still the idea is absurd. I know that Salmon and Trout look really similar but they are just as different as a Lab and a Poodle.
I have some questions that I would like to address. Is this procedure just possible with fish because they are simpler organisms? If I was injected with chimp cells could I have a baby monkey? When would this become a moral question? Where are the PETA people on this one? Am I the only one who thinks this is just too much? And seriously, could I have a baby Chimpanzee?
On a serious note this does have possibilities for revolutionizing the fish farming industry. At the tail end of the article they discussed breeding Tuna from Mackerel because of the size difference and the ability to produce more fish in a smaller area. I’m excited to see how this experiment progresses and hopefully it will have some positive effects on the endangered fish populations of the world as well as the fish farming industries. And don’t worry; I’ll keep you guys updated.
I have a favor to ask though; will someone please let me know when they figure out how to make pigs fly, I have a few bets riding on that one.
1 comment:
Wow. This procedure definitely takes cross-breeding to the next level. I do, however, find it disturbing that one breed or species of fish can reproduce a batch of another. Though initially, the whole notion of a salmon having a trout may be hard to fathom, secondary thoughts of the possibilities that this experiment can bring remain none-other than astounding. As coral reefs are rapidly dying off, so are the many species of fish that thrive off of them. Over-fishing, furthermore, only exacerbates the situation. Therefore, having the possibility of having one species or type of fish birth the likes of another endangered species seems remarkable. Maybe this procedure can help offset the dwindling numbers of certain protected species.
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