Should we genetically modify animals to be sold as pets?
Genetically modifying an organism is the process of altercation of genes to change the organism into the preferred organism; a genetically modified organism (GMO). Inside genes are DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), which are made up of a nitrogen base, a sugar group and a phosphate group (PO4). DNA is what defines the traits of an organism. Scientists are now trying to use this knowledge to switch or add DNA to an organism to have ‘better’ traits. The techniques used to edit a fragment of DNA are bacterial enzymes that are like “molecular scissors.” This most recent and most efficient way of genetic manipulation is called CRISPR-Cas9, because Cas9 is the enzyme used to edit the genome.
There are many advantages to GMO’s. One of the main reasons is GMO’s can improve on the species of food or animal for better use. With crops, such as corn, a gene/DNA that allows more resistance to insects could be added to the corn to make the growing process easier creating better output. (Figure 1). Similar to food, animals such as salmon are now being genetically modified to grow faster and larger which help improve the overall food supply.
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Currently, there is only one genetically modified animal that is being sold on the market as pets. GloFish, created by Dr. Zhiyuan Gong and marketed by Yorktown, are genetically modified fish sold online and at stores (Figure 2). They were created when Gong extracted a green fluorescent protein, which is extracted from a jellyfish, and inserted it into a zebrafish embryo. They currently have fluorescent tetra, barb, danio and rainbow shark in a variety of colours selling online and at their