"Frankenfish"

The article can be found at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/09/20/national/w002411D12.DTL&type=science

    The photo attached to this story of two fish, one dwarfing the other (seems to be almost three times bigger), is certainly an attention-grabber. As the article states, the government has begun to consider the possibility of genetically modified animals (modified crops are already approved) in the consumer market. Despite many people’s “qualms about manipulating the genetic code of other living creatures,” if such products are approved by the FDA, the “potential benefits – and profits – are huge.” One of these products is genetically engineered Atlantic salmon from the company AquaBounty.
    There are two primary concerns that critics have with these modified salmon that develop twice as fast as the normal salmon population: safety to us, and the preservation of the salmon’s environment. The fear is that these super salmon could “escape [their breeding grounds] and intermingle with the wild salmon population, which is already endangered.”
    The author, Mary Clare Jalonick, pretty much just gives us the facts. She focuses on just this story about the modified salmon from AquaBounty, and doesn’t delve into the bigger issues and context associated with genetic engineering. There’s not much stylistic writing that pleases the reader here, and there’s certainly no explicit opinions of hers. I like that. We can think for ourselves, and see our own big picture.