The Washington Post reports this morning that despite varying opinions about the value and possible downside to genetically modified salmon and similar food animals, “no federal agency appears to have clear-cut legal authority to regulate or ban them on environmental grounds.”
The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, a centrist biotechnology research group, says that essentially the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is trying to stretch old laws to fit new circumstances…and the fit isn’t as snug as it should be.
The FDA, on the other hand, disagrees, saying that it believes it has all the authority necessary to regulate or ban such animals.
The Pew report comes, according to the Post, “as biotechnology companies enter the final stages of testing a slew of genetically altered animals.”
The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, a centrist biotechnology research group, says that essentially the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is trying to stretch old laws to fit new circumstances…and the fit isn’t as snug as it should be.
The FDA, on the other hand, disagrees, saying that it believes it has all the authority necessary to regulate or ban such animals.
The Pew report comes, according to the Post, “as biotechnology companies enter the final stages of testing a slew of genetically altered animals.”
- KC's View:
- What we find even more upsetting is the notion that the US Congress might have to consider new regulations. Such debate, we fear, would be rife with emotional and non-scientific rhetoric…, which would sully both the subject and any conclusions the Congress might reach.
