Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts (24 page)

Another company, Lifestyle Pets
: Information about the company, and its claims, products, and pricing comes from “Lifestyle Pets,” Lifestyle Pets, accessed June 17, 2011,
www.allerca.com
. See also Michael Hopkin, “Allergy-free Pets Surprisingly Simple,”
Nature News
, September 26, 2006,
www.nature.com/news/2006/060926/full/news060925-5.html
.

controversy has long swirled
: For more on the controversy, see Kerry Grens, “FelisEnigmaticus,”
The Scientist
, January 1, 2007,
http://classic.the-scientist.com/article/home/39383/
.

In 1975, they drew up
: Paul Berg et al., “Summary Statement of the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
72, no. 6 (1975): 1981–84. See also Paul Berg and Maxine Singer, “The Recombinant DNA Controversy: Twenty Years Later,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
92 (September 1995): 9011–13.

The National Institutes of Health issued guidelines
: “About Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC),” National Institutes of Health, accessed March 28, 2012,
http://oba.od.nih.gov/rdna_rac/rac_about.html
; “NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules,” National Institutes of Health, accessed March 28, 2012,
http://oba.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/Guidelines/NIH_Guidelines.htm
.

ecologists continue to worry
: There has been a lot written on the potential environmental risks of genetically engineered fish. My information comes from a number of sources, including Hallerman, discussion, September 2011; John A. Beardmore and Joanne S. Porter,
Genetically Modified Organisms and Aquaculture
(Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2003), 3–4;
Future Fish: Issues in Science and Regulation of Transgenic Fish
(Washington, DC: Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, January 2003); Erik Stokstad, “Engineered Fish: Friend or Foe of the Environment?”
Science
297 (September 13, 2002): 1797–99; Alison L. Van Eenennaam and Paul G. Olin, “Careful Risk Assessment Needed to Evaluate Transgenic Fish,”
California Agriculture
60 (July–September 2006): 126–31; Alison L. Van Eenennaam and William M. Muir, “Transgenic Salmon: A Final Leap to the Grocery Shelf,”
Nature Biotechnology
29 (2011): 706–10.

This very possibility has been
: Information about the salmon comes from many sources, including: “AquAdvantage Fish,” AquaBounty Technologies, Inc., accessed March 23, 2012,
www.aquabounty.com/products/aquadvantage-295.aspx
; “Frequently Asked Questions,” AquaBounty Technologies, Inc., accessed March 23, 2012,
www.aquabounty.com/technology/faq-297.aspx
; Aqua Bounty Technologies, Inc,
Environmental Assessment for AquAdvantage® Salmon
(submitted to the Center for Veterinary Medicine, US Food and Drug Administration, August 25, 2010), available at
www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/ … /UCM224760.pdf
; Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration,
Briefing Packet: AquAdvantage Salmon
(September 20, 2010), available at
www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/ … /UCM224762.pdf
;
Future Fish: Issues in Science and Regulation of Transgenic Fish
; and Hallerman, discussion, September 2011. The initial scientific work that led to the AquAdvantage salmon is Shao Jun Du et al., “Growth Enhancement in Transgenic Atlantic Salmon by the Use of an ‘All Fish’ Chimeric Growth Hormone Gene Construct,”
Nature Biotechnology
10 (1992): 176–81.

AquaBounty is building several security
: Hallerman, discussion, September 2011; Alison Van Eenennaam, in discussion with author via telephone, February 8, 2012; Eenennaam and Muir, “Transgenic Salmon”; Van Eenennaam et al.,
The Science and Regulation of Food from Genetically Engineered Animals.

Though many scientists
: Van Eenennaam et al.,
The Science and Regulation of Food from Genetically Engineered Animals
; Hallerman, discussion, September 2011.

The company first approached
 …
the market
: Van Eenennaam, discussion; Van Eenennaam and Muir, “Transgenic Salmon.”

As Alan Blake prepared
 …
to the environment
: Blake, discussion, December 2010.

Wild zebrafish
 …
successful at reproducing
: Hallerman, discussion, February 2011. Van Eenennaam and Olin, “Careful Risk Assessment Needed to Evaluate Transgenic Fish”; and Blake, “GloFish—The First Commercially Available Biotech Animal.” Data and analyses of GloFish risks appear in a memorandum written by Sonke Mastrup, acting director of the California Department of Fish and Game, and in a series of letters written by experts to Alan Blake. They include Sonke Mastrup to Robert R. Treanor, memorandum, November 25, 2003, available at
www.glofish.com/science/CA.Fish.Game.Recommendation.pdf
; Eric M. Hallerman to Alan Blake, September 18, 2003, available at
http://glofish.com/science/Hallerman%20Analysis%20of%20Fluorescent%20Zebra%20Fish.pdf
; Jeffrey J. Essner to Alan Blake, October 14, 2003, available at
http://glofish.com/science/Analysis%20of%20Fluorescent%20Zebra%20Fish%20Temperature%20Sensitivity.pdf
; Perry B. Hackett to Alan Blake, August 18, 2003, available at
http://glofish.com/science/Hackett%20Analysis%20of%20Fluorescent%20Tropical%20Fish.pdf
; William Muir to Alan Blake, November 16, 2003, available at
http://glofish.com/science/Muir%20Analysis%20of%20Fluorescent%20Zebra%20Fish.pdf
; and Zhiyuan Gong to Alan Blake, September 3, 2003, available at
http://glofish.com/science/Gong%20Analysis%20of%20Fluorescent%20Zebra%20Fish.pdf
.

“What are the odds
…”: Perry Hackett, in discussion with author via telephone, February 4, 2011.

Federal officials didn’t register
: Blake, discussion, December 2010.

then California caught him by surprise
: Blake, discussion, December 2010.

The state’s Fish and Game Commission
: Van Eenennaam and Olin, “Careful Risk Assessment Needed to Evaluate Transgenic Fish.”

National Public Radio to Al-Jazeera
: Blake, discussion, December 2010.

WHEN FISH FLUORESCE: James Gorman, “When Fish Fluoresce, Can Teenagers Be Far Behind?”
New York Times
, December 2, 2003.

“These are techniques that
…”: Richard Twine, in discussion with author via telephone, November 11, 2009.

when it convened to discuss GloFish
: A video of the proceedings is available online at CAL-SPAN: California State Meetings Webcast Video. Videos of California Fish and Game Commission proceedings are available at
www.cal-span.org/cgi-bin/media.pl?folder=CFG
. The video of the December 3, 2003, meeting can be downloaded directly at
mms://media.cal-span.org/calspan/Video_Files/CFG/CFG_03-12-03/CFG_03-12-03.wmv
. All details about what occurred at the meeting, and quotations cited, come directly from the video.

According to public opinion polls
: “Recent Findings,” Mellman Group, Inc., and Public Opinion Strategies, Inc., to the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, memorandum, November 7, 2003, available at
www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Public_Opinion/Food_and_Biotechnology/2005summary.pdf
.

“a fairly trivial use of technology”
 …
“no harm being done”
: Hallerman, discussion, February 2011.

Those ornamental goldfish varieties
: Fossa, “Man-Made Fish”; Companion Animal Welfare Council,
Breeding and Welfare.

The breed’s massive head
:
A Healthier Future for Pedigree Dogs: The Report of the APGAW Inquiry into the Health and Welfare Issues Surrounding the Breeding of Pedigree Dogs
(London: Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, November 2009).

Their snouts are so short
: James A. Serpell, “Anthropomorphism and Anthropomorphic Selection—Beyond the ‘Cute Response,’”
Society & Animals
11, no. 1 (2003): 83–100.

These breathing difficulties
: Nicola Rooney and David Sargan, “Pedigree Dog Breeding in the UK: A Major Welfare Concern?” (UK: Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2009).

“Because tropical aquarium fish…”
: United States Food and Drug Administration, “FDA Statement Regarding Glofish,” December 9, 2003, available at
www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/GeneticEngineering/GeneticallyEngineeredAnimals/ucm161437.htm

GloFish hit pet stores in January 2004
: Blake, discussion, December 2010.

filed a lawsuit
: Complaint,
International Center for Technology Assessment v. Thompson
, No. 1:04-CV-000 62 (D.D.C. January 14, 2004), available at
www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/GloFishComplaint1.14.2004.pdf
.

“If bulldogs were the products…”
: Serpell, “Anthropomorphism and Anthropomorphic Selection—Beyond the ‘Cute Response.’”

“aesthetic injury from viewing
…”: Ibid.

are a hit … major pet store chains
: Blake, discussions, January and December 2010. Blake declined to provide specific sales figures but said, “Our fish are among the most popular in the marketplace.”

the Taiwanese company Taikong
: The company’s site can be found at
www.azoo.com.tw/

Though he’d love to sell
: Alan Blake, in discussion with author via telephone, September 6, 2011, discussion, December 2010.

At first, Yorktown Technologies
: Blake, discussion, December 2010, and e-mail to author, February 1, 2012.

Yorktown Technologies conducted
 …
sale of the fish, Blake says
: Alan Blake, e-mail to author, August 2, 2012. Alan Blake, e-mail to author, August 20, 2012.

“We have e-mails…”
: Blake, discussion, January 2010.

In one survey, 40 percent
: “Recent Findings,” Mellman Group, Inc., and Public Opinion Strategies, Inc., to the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, memorandum, November 7, 2003, available at
www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Public_Opinion/Food_and_Biotechnology/2005summary.pdf
.

“Biotechnology is often demonized”
: Blake, discussion, January 2010.

“You’d think they were…”
: Alan Blake, in discussion with author via telephone, October 13, 2010.

2. Got Milk?

Instead, most researchers
: James Murray, in discussion with author via telephone, September 1, 2011; Murray and Elizabeth Maga, in discussion with author, Davis, California, January 24, 2012.

The trouble is that it’s difficult
: Louis-Marie Houdebine, “Production of Pharmaceutical Proteins by Transgenic Animals,”
Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
32 (2009): 107–21; Michael K. Dyck, “Making Recombinant Proteins in Animals—Different Systems, Different Applications,”
TRENDS in Biotechnology
21, no. 9 (2003): 394–99; Murray, discussion, September 2011; Murray and Maga, discussion, January 2012.

So the creation
: Murray, discussion, September 2011; Murray and Maga, discussion, January 2012.

Throughout the 1980s … in their milk
: C. W. Pittius et al., “A Milk Protein Gene Promoter Directs the Expression of Human Tissue Plasminogen Activator cDNA to the Mammary Gland in Transgenic Mice,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
85 (1988): 5874–78; K. Gordon et al., “Production of Human Tissue Plasminogen Activator in Transgenic Mouse Milk,”
Bio/Technology
5 (1987): 1183–87; G. Wright et al., “High Level Expression of Active Human Alpha-1-Antitrypsin in the Milk of Transgenic Sheep,”
Nature Biotechnology
9 (1991): 830–34.