Glo Fish

[Rediahs]

I'm happy that humanity has found a way to splice in the glow-in-the-dark gene. Now maybe they could take up less important ventures like making ich resistant fish, or fish that tolerate ph changes more easily. Then again, those would be advantages and could cause normal fish to die off.

Who cares if your fish gets itch!
They are only a few pounds to get another!

I hope you are kidding.

Even if you aren't.... it looks ugly and it's gross and it ruins the tank so any more fish you put in will also get ich and the cycle continues... do you want ugly fish either?

 

[furryrabbit]

I'm happy that humanity has found a way to splice in the glow-in-the-dark gene. Now maybe they could take up less important ventures like making ich resistant fish, or fish that tolerate ph changes more easily. Then again, those would be advantages and could cause normal fish to die off.

Who cares if your fish gets itch!
They are only a few pounds to get another!

ive been biting my tongue for a while now - but ifeel i have to say , falcodarz , you strike me as some form of cruel sadist . whether its about your overstocked tank < featuring a red crab > , your pleasure at literally abusing your silver molly , your complete disregard for the life of the individual fish or your excitement at the fighting between your fish ( " let the fight begin.... " , your quote ). ahhhhhhh that feels better , and sorry everyone else - i had to say it .

as for the glofish , im all for the advancement of science

 

[Imber]

Is this a glofish?

I got 3 of these from my lfs a good while ago. The last one just died recently and I think she was about 4-5 years old. They didn't actually glow in the dark or anything, just were the pink color instead of the normal color. I never tried them under a blacklight though. I had them schooling with some normal danios and apparently they bred because I found some fry when I was vacuuming and have been raising them. I haven't found them to be any less hardy or different than others. I don't really have a personal problem with genetically altering fish. It is definitely preferable to dying and if people have to have eye-catching fish I'd rather it be this way. Anyway here's a picture of some of my babies:

cute, huh?

 

[OohFeeshy]

RE the mention of them being sterile, if I recall the Glofish website (or some other site) mentioned them being sterile, probably to put people off trying to breed them ergo creating more money. But if it´s been changed, I presume this was because people found they were not sterile and the company had to act to preserve some dignity. But I´m not sure really.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

yep well i've looked into these a few time already but never saw them for sale... they are danios that were genetically enginered oridginally to show if there were toxins in the water. they would glow red in normal water but if there were pollutants, the color would change, now after thier use in science they have been introduced into home aquariums and are now more commonly being kept as pets.

I have no problem with it because they differ from "dyed" fish because they are born this way and don't have to go through being stuck with a needle, so i personaly like them, but i've never seen them for sale.....

 

[keepsfalling]

After reading through this thread and the previous thread about Glofish, dyed and tattooed fish I'm slightly worried as to the amount of fish that are genetically modified that we don't know about.

It was mentioned at one point that genetically modified fish don't feel any pain and aren't deformed etc, however this could be because we are only told about the GM fish that turned out "ok"?

It makes me wonder how often Genetic Modification in animals goes wrong that we're not told about?

I may have missed this bit but can someone explain to my simpleton brain about the toxins in the water thing? I understand it's to show that there are toxins in the water... but what water?! drinking water?? bathing water??? I'm slightly confuzzled I think I may have missed the point completely?

 

[14gtr14]

yep well i've looked into these a few time already but never saw them for sale... they are danios that were genetically enginered oridginally to show if there were toxins in the water. they would glow red in normal water but if there were pollutants, the color would change, now after thier use in science they have been introduced into home aquariums and are now more commonly being kept as pets.

I have no problem with it because they differ from "dyed" fish because they are born this way and don't have to go through being stuck with a needle, so i personaly like them, but i've never seen them for sale.....

To achieve their goal, scientists are in the process of adding a "switch" that will cause the always fluorescing GloFish® zebra fish to selectively fluoresce in the presence of environmental toxins. A non-fluorescing fish will signal that the water is safe, while a fluorescing fish will signal trouble. Although these fish are not currently available, scientists hope to complete this work soon. To help further the research, a portion of the proceeds from sales of all GloFish® fluorescent fish goes directly to the lab where these fish were created.


---straight from the website lol

 

[pica_nuttalli]

some previous threads. i personally take very little issue with Glofish and think that a specially devoted tank would make an excellent visual display (when equipped with a black light, of course ).

these are some older threads regarding the topic:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=110655
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=102291
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=82424

 

[Synirr]

However, I don't see how selling genetically-modified fish in WalMart helps increase sceinces' ability to understand genes or cure ailments caused by defective genes.

Research isn't cheap, and you can't always find enough companies or individuals interested in your research to fully fund it. It's practically a godsend to the research team responsible for Glofish that their creation is marketable. Now if only we could find some equivalent way to market stem cell research we'd have it made.

Someone said about these fish being sterile? According to the website it says that they no longer inject the eggs and that these fish are offspring from previous ones, not sure how true it is?

Nothing in the process of the initial creation of these fish makes them sterile... they can indeed breed, and their colour is hereditary. However, I believe it used to say on the Glofish site that they were artificially sterilized before being sold to the public, and now it no longer does. I suspect they may have stopped sterilizing them, for whatever reason.

It was mentioned at one point that genetically modified fish don't feel any pain and aren't deformed etc, however this could be because we are only told about the GM fish that turned out "ok"?

It makes me wonder how often Genetic Modification in animals goes wrong that we're not told about?

I hope you never discover the truth about animal experimentation... animals are routinely harmed for much less important research.

I imagine that most genetic experiments that go wrong just result in a non-viable egg, since tampering with even the smallest thing in DNA can very easily destroy any potential for life whatsoever. However, if you do a little research into Drosophila melanogaster flies, the leading species used in genetic research, you will find some rather odd creations science has come up with, like flies with legs where their antennae should be. They have even found a genetic link to the fly's ability to determine the sex of other flies, and once this tidbit of DNA is removed, male flies will attempt to mate indiscriminately with any fly that comes along, whether it be female or male

Personally, I don't have any problem with Glofish. Idiots are always going to want another brightly-coloured fish, and they are certainly a more humane alternative to dyeing.

 

[sharkbaitwoohaha]

Is this a glofish?

I got 3 of these from my lfs a good while ago. The last one just died recently and I think she was about 4-5 years old. They didn't actually glow in the dark or anything, just were the pink color instead of the normal color. I never tried them under a blacklight though. I had them schooling with some normal danios and apparently they bred because I found some fry when I was vacuuming and have been raising them. I haven't found them to be any less hardy or different than others. I don't really have a personal problem with genetically altering fish. It is definitely preferable to dying and if people have to have eye-catching fish I'd rather it be this way. Anyway here's a picture of some of my babies:

cute, huh?

cute, but they do look dyed to me, but once they are your fish that becomes insignificant cos you love them!! . read in uk practical fishkeeping mag that glo fish are infact a genetic mutation produced in a lab and do not involve a dyeing process. BUT! they are not available in the uk as there has been no license/patent registered for them so if you see them in uk shops the likelehood is that they have been dyed and copycat versions have been seen!