pesci transgenici: USDI esprime preoccuapzioni

["AlessandroGimona"<agimona@libero.it>]

Ancora una volta il messaggio e' lo stesso: c'e' troppa fretta nel 
rilascio di organismi transgenici.
Il dipartimento US degli affari interni invita alla cautela 
nell'introduzione nell'ambiente di pesci modificati geneticamente.
(Modelli indicano che i salmoni transgenici possono causare l'estinzione 
della popolazione selvatica).


Alessandro Gimona

(Notizia Reuters)


William Brown, a  science adviser to  Interior Secretary  Bruce Babbitt, 
said  the department was  concerned that some  new genetically altered 
organisms could inadvertently harm the  environment, much like invasive 
plants. 

  For example, the less than 200 remaining Atlantic salmon living in 
Maine
  rivers could be quickly wiped out if transgenic fish grown in nearby
  aquaculture farms escape their pens, Brown said. 

  A similar risk is posed by developers of transgenic aquarium fish, 
which
  are engineered to be bigger, stronger and more colorful than 
conventional
  varieties. 

  "Maybe the situation can be managed just fine," Brown told a National
  Academy of Sciences committee studying biotech food and
  environmental issues. "But I'm worried that some of these species are
  falling between the cracks of current regulations." 

  He urged the committee to take a close look at how federal safeguards
  can be developed for organisms that might be a new threat to
  endangered species. 

  U.S. regulations for genetically modified organisms are administered 
by
  the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency
  and the U.S. Agriculture Department. The FDA handles food safety and
  labeling, the EPA monitors crops engineered to repel pests, and the
  USDA oversees field testing of transgenic crops. 

  The Interior Department, which has taken little part in federal 
biotech
  policies, administers public lands as well as protecting endangered
  species.