How is GMO Fish different from Cell Based Fish? To understand the differences, lets compare two types of fish:
1. AquAdvantage Salmon (produced by AquaBounty Technologies)
🐠🧬 → 🐟 → RAS FACILITY → 🍣
AquAdvantage salmon is an Atlantic salmon that is genetically modified to grow twice as fast as the non-genetically modified Atlantic salmon. This is done by inserting a growth hormone gene from a Chinook salmon into a fertilized Atlantic salmon egg. By integrating this Chinook growth hormone gene into the genome of an Atlantic salmon, AquaBounty Technologies reduces the time to market from three years to 18 months. The fish are raised in a land-based recirculating aquaculture systems, RAS for short, which are indoor fish tanks in warehouses.
2. Finless Foods Bluefin Tuna
🐠 → 🧫 → SCAFFOLD → CELL CULTURE MEDIA → 🍣
Cell based tuna is grown using a tissue biopsy of cells from a single Bluefin tuna. The cells are placed inside a flask (petri dish) with a scaffold (supportive structure) and a cell culture media (food). Inside these flasks, the cells multiply and form strands of muscle tissue.
The main differences are:
Growth Process: The GMO fish are grown in a recirculating aquaculture system which resembles the environment the fish are grown in conventional fish farming – there is water and fish food. The cell based fish are grown inside of a petri dish with cell culture media rather than fish food.
In Sum: GMO fish are still growing fish, whilst cell based fish are growing fish cell tissue. Cell based fish food (cell culture media) and cell lines could be genetically engineered, but we will not know for sure until cell based food processes are finalized.
