The moral values of a

Posted by tomo at 01:58 AM in . | 4 Comments

The moral values of a California commisioner are behind that state's decision to ban sale of the GloFish [video] in the state, "despite accepting recommendations from scientists and the California Fish and Game Department that there is no danger to state waterways even if the fish escaped." Residents will still be able to drive across the border or order them from the internet when it becomes available January 5th of next year.

For me it's a question of values, it's not a question of science. I think selling genetically modified fish as pets is wrong. At the end of the day, I just don't think it's right to produce a new organism just to be a pet. [AP]

The ban is out of fear that a modified organism could escape and harm the environment, although there is no such danger. They're not producing new organisms as fluorescent zebra fish have been bred for over a decade and are just now being marketed as pets. Pets have always been genetically modified, since we began selecting and domesticating wild animals. Science has just found a way to make the process faster and more efficient.

It is ironic that Californian fear-mongers are citing environmental concerns as the reason sale of this fish should be banned when the fish was originally bred to detect environmental toxins.