Page 125 - The Welfare of Cattle

102 the WeLfare of CattLe

to ensure that any risks associated with adopting this technology are objectively evaluated and
balanced against all other alternatives. This ideology slows the progress of biotechnology imple-
mentation in agriculture, and is particularly slow to be adopted in animal agriculture as the telos of
the animal must be included in the assessment of risk.
For example, a strain of pigs developed in 2000 makes better use of phosphorus with the goal
of reducing the concentrations of phosphorus in waters downstream of commercial piggeries. High
concentrations of phosphorus in water deplete oxygen levels, kill aquatic life, and create algae
blooms in lakes and rivers. The researchers identified a gene that increases recovery of phosphorus
in the digestive tract of pigs and, therefore, decreases phosphorus in feces of pigs. These GM pigs
were named EnviroPigs (see Taylor, 2000) and the responsible gene encoded for a phytase enzyme
found in bacteria. The phytase enzyme in the digestive tract of pigs is very active in the acidic condi-
tions of the gut and break down the phosphorus in feed grain prior to reaching the intestine.
Subsequent research efforts confirmed that the transgenic pigs were healthy and that the phytase
transgene was transmitted to eight subsequent generations. Studies of EnviroPigs through the eighth
generation revealed that the phystase transgene was transferred to all subsequent generations with-
out change in the structure of the gene. The EnviroPig addresses both an environmental concern
and a societal challenge of pig farming. The EnviroPig can help pig farmers comply with “zero
discharge” rules in the United States that do not allow nitrogen or phosphorus runoff from animal
operations (see Minard, 2010). However, the use of this strain of pig in commercial pork production
is not yet approved. Pork producers are waiting to learn whether EnviroPig passes safety tests and
if the cost-benefit analysis is such that Enviropig will have a long-term positive impact on the swine
industry. Pork producers favor technologies and biotechnologies that increase their competitiveness;
however, to date—no transgenic mammal has been approved for consumption in the United States.
AquAdvantage salmon. AquaAdvantage salmon is a GM Atlantic salmon developed by
AquaBounty Technologies (see Ahrens et al., 2011). A growth hormone- regulating gene from a
Pacific Chinook salmon, with a promoter from an ocean pout, was added to the Atlantic salmon’s
40,000 genes. This gene enables AquaAdvantage salmon to grow all year rather than just spring and
summer. The transgene increases the growth rate of the AquaAdvantage salmon to its mature size,
but without affecting its ultimate size or other qualities compared to non-transgenic salmon. The
fish grows to market size in 16–18 months rather than 3 years.
Society and, therefore, regulatory agencies and legislative committees have deemed the use
of biotechnology to be more widely accepted in salmon than in pigs. On November 25, 2013,
®
AquaBounty, Technologies announced that the Canadian Government decided that AquAdvantage
Salmon is not harmful to the environment or human health when produced in confined facilities.
Furthermore, it was recognized that AquaBounty’s hatchery producing sterile, all female eggs is no
longer solely a research facility, an approved facility to produce eggs on a commercial scale without
harm to the environment or human health.
The United States of America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved AquaBounty
Technologies’ application to sell the AquAdvantage salmon to U.S. consumers on November 19,
2015. However, a rider to a spending bill signed into law on December 18, 2015 by President Obama
bans its import until the FDA mandates labels for the GM product (see Dennis, 2015). Thus, for
the first time, a GM animal has been approved to enter the food supply in the United States. It took
nearly 20 years for the FDA to approve AquAdvantage salmon as equally safe and nutritious to
eat as non-transgenic Atlantic salmon. The FDA reviewed data from the company and concluded
that the allergenic potency of AquaAdvantage salmon was not significantly different from that
of unmodified salmon and a proposed federal spending bill was created that requires consumer
notification that the fish is GM.
The differences in social acceptability between the EnviroPig and the AquaAdvantage Salmon
is surprising. The EnviroPig provides substantial benefits to the collective good and the probability
that the EnviroPig would interbreed with wild hog populations is extremely low. However, humans