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[nenjin]

the only problem with mandatory labeling is that GM has long been criticized by those who don't have a vary good knowledge of even basic genetics, and when it comes to public opinion its much easier to spread a rumor than it is to disprove a rumor, so labeling it GM in this current public opinion environment would be equivalent to labeling it "poison"

Tough shit for them. We have a right to know how and where the things we consume were made. "Made in China."? "100% Pure Beef?" "Beef substitute?" "No MSG?" "Contains harmful carcinogens?"

We've got the right. If there's a public perception problem, it's up to them to change it, not the FDA to obscure the fact that food is being sold that Americans may not like, whether they're right or wrong on that assertion. The days of manufacturers that do business in the US not having to account for the source and/or content of their product are long over. We're not obligated to buy their shit, they're obligated to make their product appealing to Americans if they want our business. If we want a label, put a goddamn label on it, and roll out the stupid PR commercials. That's the cost of doing business here.

[Virex]

Ps: I also suspect that these "new" salmons will be less tasty than their natural counterpart.
 Another reason to label them as such.

They might be if you believe that genetic modification creates inferior food. (I'm a strong believer in the powers of the placebo effect)

[Il Palazzo]

Brothers and sisters! Rally behind me to stop the unfair discrimination of genetically modified salmon!
It's pure geneticism at work here. If only Hitler lived today, he'd add GM salmon to the rest of the food products he dicriminates against.

[Phmcw]

Ps: I also suspect that these "new" salmons will be less tasty than their natural counterpart.
 Another reason to label them as such.

They might be if you believe that genetic modification creates inferior food. (I'm a strong believer in the powers of the placebo effect)

Yes, that too, but if the salmon grow faster, he will be less tasty .

[Eagleon]

in order to use a protein from bacteria, etc, you have to add these introns,

you do? (sauce?)

I thought it was the other way around? To make prokaryotes produce eukaryotic proteins you have to remove the introns?

It's both, or sometimes only the cap. The cap and tail in mRNA is there so that the mRNA molecules can be 'capped' for identification as mRNA by the Eukaryote ribosome (and for protection from RNases), and 'tailed' to prevent damaged RNA from being coded into proteins. Introns code for their placement, and the capping/tailing happens after being converted from DNA, before transcription into proteins.

In eukaryotes, mRNA that doesn't have a cap or tail are quickly recycled. mRNA from eukaryotes, or really any mRNA with the poly(A) tail introduced into bacteria, actually promotes degradation of mRNA. poly(A) tails shorten over time in Eukaryotes (at least), sort of acting as a counter for their termination (or in some cases storage).

Since there are some bacteria that actually use poly(A) terminators in their mRNA to signal the cell to make sure it's degraded faster, you would probably have to carefully consider what the effects of either omission or removal of poly(A) introns may be. So yeah, the situation is a little more complicated than "add this to make in goldfish", but in general there has to be a minimal amount of modification for it to work.

[ChairmanPoo]

For what purpose does bacterian DNA get spliced into eukaryotes, though?

[Virex]

Usually because some bacteria make proteins that either kill pests or makes the receiving eukaryote immune to stuff that would kill it along with the pests

[Phmcw]

Anyway, Europe seems to head toward a complete interdiction of ogm.
They wanted to allow each countries to define their own policies, but it has been rejected by those very countries : ogm spreading would render all regulation useless.

[Renault]

Just feel like pointing out something that was only briefly touched on earlier, (The following pretty much only applies to America and canada) that GM plants don't have to be labelled as such. People eat them all the time--unless you buy certified organic, you've probably eaten as many GM crops by now as natural. So the whole furor over the fish thing is rather...odd. Why do people want GM meats labelled as such but not plants?

[RedKing]

Just feel like pointing out something that was only briefly touched on earlier, (The following pretty much only applies to America and canada) that GM plants don't have to be labelled as such. People eat them all the time--unless you buy certified organic, you've probably eaten as many GM crops by now as natural. So the whole furor over the fish thing is rather...odd. Why do people want GM meats labelled as such but not plants?

I think many people would prefer GM crops to be labelled as well.

[Trekkin]

And really, aren't all commercially grown organisms technically genetically modified via artificial selection?

ChairmanPoo: Bacteria do things with DNA that eukaryotes frankly can't (restriction enzymes. plasmids.) so you get some interesting sequences from the resultant slurry, and between them and archaea there's a great many proteins with potentially useful functions that eukaryotes never evolved to synthesize--but probably can, if you don't get unlucky and see it ubiquitylated or misfolded. Also consider the relative simplicity of prokaryotic transmission and translation-- at least as far as I'm aware there's less in the way of massive posttranslational modification and having one protein modified by a dozen others going on, and operons are easier to account for than activation factors(less so promoters), so once you've found a given protein in a prokaryotic proteome that you want it's more straightforward to go back to the genome.

As to my two cents on this...this reminds me a lot of the debate between margarine and butter that caused Wisconsin to mandate, for a time, that margarine producers color their product bright pink to clearly distinguish it from butter--while, of course, butter producers were decrying the despicable artificial coloration practices of their competitors and quietly dumping amaretto into their tanks. There was a lot of pseudoscience and partially justified fears among the public then, too, and there's still a seesaw back and forth as to which is healthier. I almost hope we see a close parallel here so that they're forced to add Glofish DNA to these salmon--and I challenge you to find me a lawmaker who wouldn't consider this a reasonable demand after a sufficiently lucrative meeting with fisheries-- and I can finally have Technicolor fluorescent sushi.

[RedKing]

Here's an interesting question that occurred to me:

Is GM salmon kosher? 

[ChairmanPoo]

That's not the answer I was looking for. Rather, I was asking for specific examples of bacterian proteins used in eukaryote cells.

[Trekkin]

That's not the answer I was looking for. Rather, I was asking for specific examples of bacterian proteins used in eukaryote cells.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fcn/fcnDetailNavigation.cfm?rpt=bioListing&id=25

 agrobacterial EPSPS was used to improve herbicide resistance in creeping bentgrass.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fcn/fcnDetailNavigation.cfm?rpt=bioListing&id=27

And rapeseed oil together with Ochrobactrum anthropi.

There are some other examples in there as well.

[Sergius]

Plasmids!! What's this, Bioshock? Lightning-generating salmon?