Current scientific understanding of the environmental biosafety of transgenic fish and shellfish.
A fluorescent zebrafish was the first genetically engineered animal to be marketed, and biotechnologists are developing many transgenic fish and shellfish. Biosafety science is not sufficiently advanced to be able to draw scientifically reliable and broadly trusted conclusions about the environmental effects of these animals. The science is best developed for identifying hazards posed by environmental spread of a transgenic fish or shellfish and least developed for assessing potential ecological harms of spread. Environmental spread of certain transgenic fish or shellfish could be an indirect route of entry into the human food supply. The management of predicted environmental risks is in its infancy and has thus far focused on the first step of the risk management process, i.e. risk reduction, via a few confinement methods. There is a critical need to improve scientific methods of environmental safety assessment and management and to gather empirical data needed to substantiate biosafety conclusions and to effectively manage transgenic fish and shellfish. Scientists and potentially affected parties should participate in prioritising the knowledge gaps to be addressed.
Kapuscinski
A R
AR
Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology and Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability, 200 Hodson Hall, 1980 Folwell Avenue, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA.
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017756:Aquaculture; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012308:Risk Management; D012758:Shellfish