GloFish

[millym]

i dont like anything in nature being fiddled with just cos someone thinks it 'looks good' nature & natural fish are beautiful enough imo without changing it/them. But i have to say its not quite as cruel as injected/dyed fish which is an absolutely horrific practice. i would not get any of these genetically modified fish i just dont like it at all. i think my zebras & other fish are beautiful just as found in nature.

 

[living_dead]

I think its very cool that they managed to do this. If they are selling the fish they don't have any defects and are most likely health even with their modification. Glad to see some of you read slashdot. It was done for a good cause if you ask me. A few fish verse a whole eco system going to hell is worth it. They are supposed to react to toxins in the waters.

 

[KimmyFishy89]

Seems to me there aren't really any ethical problems with genetically engineering fish. After all, people have been breeding fancy strains of guppies, and even danios for many years. This is just a fad, some people will by the fish as a novelty and then it will fade away. By the way, anyone who gets one. Let me know what it's like!

There is a difference between selective breeding, and genetically altered fish. A danio, isn't suppose to glow, period. Fancy guppies aren't genetically altered like these fish are. This is appauling, disgusting and I believe human kind should just leave the fish the way they are!

 

[ryansfish5g]

so I just went to walmart....and of course I looked at the fish.

first thing I noticed was a bunch of goldfish biting at another dead goldfish that was missing its eyes....

second thing I noticed was that they were selling painted glassfish....

I can't believe walmart would sell these fish?

I really do think dying and injecting fish is much crueler than altering the genes, but altering the genes could have other consequences.


Also, as someone mentioned, these fish were originally designed to help the environment, not to be sold as pets. The problem is that people will start designing animals just to be pets....and this may start the trend.

 

[lizard]

I wouldn't suggest buying these fish ever. By buying them, you are just contributing to the cause. Nature is best left alone. I know that dyed fish lose their color and have a shorter life span due to stress and mishandling, some even end up blind(makes me sick to think about it). At any rate, messing with genetics, dying, ect.... are very unhealthy for the fish and very disgusting IMO

Yes, dyed fish do lose their color and have a shorter life span. These fish are not dyed though. The glowing comes from an added gene, which causes the fish no harm. The fish are no less healthy than the ones without the glowing gene.

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[lizard]

I really do think dying and injecting fish is much crueler than altering the genes, but altering the genes could have other consequences.

Yes, dying is crueler than altering the genes. Altering genes can have consequences. Adding the fluorescening/fluorescent gene has not been shown to cause problems and it doesn't make sense that it would cause problems, at least to me.

Also, as someone mentioned, these fish were originally designed to help the environment, not to be sold as pets. The problem is that people will start designing animals just to be pets....and this may start the trend.

I am not in favor of people genetically altering animals to make them "cooler" pets. Using these fish to help the environment is one thing. Selling them as "cool" pets is another. I don't think selling this particular fish will cause a problem, but as you say, it may start the trend of people wanting to create more "cool" pets by genetically altering them.

Sometimes technology ain't so great Other times, it is

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[bgraber]

Well modern medicine(cell therapy, In-Vitro fert, Aspirin) is indeed "playing God" so we really shouldn't use that as justification against something like this.

 

[noop]

i've got no problem at all with genetic mods of fish if it's not harmful to the fish

some people worry it's the start of a slippery slope but frankly i've never been convinced of that argument. no matter how far 'down the slope' we go we still retain our ethics and morals, and are able to stop our slide when we feel the need

i wouldn't get any of these fish though, as i prefer a natural look to an aquarium. and let's face it, nature provides us - particularly fish owners - with a dazzling array of beauty without the need for genetic engineering

noop

 

[Eelzor]

Ok, this seriously p***** me off. If genetic modification doesn't harm fish or ANYTHING for that matter, I still don't care, its not on at all. Why do stupid humans have to muck with the world like this? The whole nuclear power thing, genetic mutations/colourings, pollution, ozone layer, I am grateful that we live it a civilisation that has not totally destroyed the earth yet, and still hold quite a lot of natural wonders. Because by the time a few centuries pass most of this world will be a lot different then today. I am sure most of you have heard/seen the adam and eve story, how they where in a place with everything looking so very natural. Its what the world should be today. I suppose man made items have to be made to make humans live, but several of these man made items are destroying the planet. I would never buy they 'man-decorated' fish in a million, no a zillion years. How would you like to be dyed pink just for someone elses amusment? I suppose fish wouldn't care but the thought that a human did something to a fish you own, just doesn't feel right. I would like to own something straight from the wild or bred from other wild normally coloured fish. And these 'coloured glo fish' are basically not even fish from the wild anymore are they? The main reason people own fish is to have something from the outside world in your own home. And the entire earth is falling apart because of this civilisation. Enjoy our natural looking earth while it lasts everyone.

 

[fishenergy]

I really hate to see people defending this way of genetic altering . They may have not found proof of any harm to the fish, but I'm sure it does, either mentally or physically or both. Poor fish will think it is daytime, when there is no light.