Next Gen News

activists say $ 500 000 donation was made despite evidence that the company could soon run out of cash AquaBounty

Obama administration has received a coveted research grant to a company with financial problems who are working to genetically modified (GM) salmon at the tables of America, to the revelation that the company could s to exhaust the money in early 2012, it has emerged.

activists say the $ 500 000 grant for AquaBounty amounts to a bailout for the major investors of the company, the business tycoon and former Minister of Finance of Georgia, Kakha Bendukidze. Also in relation to the controversy of Solyndra, which has seen a solar energy company into bankruptcy after receiving assurances from government loans.

"Certainly this has shades of Solyndra We saw shares fall for months -. Year in fact - and that the Department U. S. of Agriculture (USDA), but give this money to the company, "said Colin O'Neil, a political analyst at the Center for Food Safety, which is opposed to GM salmon.

"It's an investigation that any university or public institution may be independent, why USDA finance company interested in?" Said.

The grant, awarded last month, comes at a critical time for AquaBounty.

After $ 67 million and hopes of 16 years, the Food and Drug Administration could utter that GM salmon for human consumption in the coming weeks, CEO of the company, said Ronald Stotish .

"Based on what we see, we believe we have the approval later this year, but we plan for all eventualities," he said.

said the company had potential fish farmers in line for GM salmon in South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Ohio. "We have people in the United States who are interested in the development of these fish right now."

If approved, salmon would be the first modified animal to make its way into the food chain, paving the way for a whole menagerie of revisions, fast-growing trout and tilapia "Enviro-Pig "genetically modified to produce cleaner shit.

The USDA said it had followed proper procedures in making the grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) -. Including a review of financial information AquaBounty

"In this particular grant, procedures called the company to present two years of financial information, including annual reports, tax returns and other miscellaneous information. AquaBounty provided this information for the grant which was awarded this year and are in compliance with all requirements of Nifa funds, "spokesman for the USDA wrote in an email.

said Nifa reviewed 58 proposals for biotechnology research before announcing grants AquaBounty and other companies.

GM salmon, originally designed by researchers at Memorial University of Newfoundland, to combine genes for growth hormone chinook, the largest variety in the Pacific, with a band DNA of sulking, an eel-like animal that lives in extremely cold water.

Normally, the gene that the pot does not freeze to death. In the case of GM salmon, said the gene for growth hormone is permanently connected during an outbreak of uninterrupted growth. GM salmon grow up to six times faster than the conventional variety.

For AquaBounty , activists say there is a conflict of interest in funding research on genetically modified design companies of the animal.
As with other biotechnology companies, government subsidies were crucial for the survival of AquaBounty. Over the years, has received nearly U.S. $ 3 million of the U.S. government and another $ 6 million in funding from the Canadian government.