VIRGINIA
TECH FISHERIES AND
WILDLIFE PROFESSOR
TO BRIEF CAPITOL HILL
ON BIOTECH FOOD
BLACKSBURG,
Jan 29, 2003 - Eric
Hallerman, associate
professor of fisheries
and wildlife sciences
at Virginia Tech's
College of Natural
Resources, will brief
the House of Representatives
Science Committee
on transgenic fish,
Friday, Jan. 31, during
a luncheon at 2325
Rayburn House Office
Building. Hallerman
is a member of the
committee that wrote
the recent National
Academy of Sciences
report, Animal
Biotechnology: Science-Based
Concerns."
Transgenic
fish, one class of
genetically modified
fish, may be the first
genetically engineered
animal to receive
federal approval for
marketing as food.
Researchers have experimented
with a number of genes
to create numerous
potential products
such as Atlantic salmon
that grow faster than
traditional salmon,
and tilapia that may
be a good source for
Factor VII, a compound
essential to clotting
human blood.
Many
questions exist about
the benefits, risks,
and issues unique
to genetically modified
fish. Hallerman has
been invited along
with Elliot Entis,
co-founder of the
biotech company Aqua
Bounty Farms, by the
Pew Initiative on
Food and Biotechnology
to brief the legislators
on the science, promise,
risks, and implications
transgenic fish could
have on the market,
the environment, consumers,
and the regulatory
system.
