Today on Radio Boston: Genetically Modified Salmon

Photo: Flickr/Hanataro

Today, Radio Boston tackles the topic of genetically modified salmon.  Haven’t heard about it?  Check out the story in today’s Washington Post.

Waltham-based AquaBounty Technologies has created a genetically modified salmon that will grow twice as fast.  The Atlantic salmon engineered by AquaBounty includes a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long. As the Washington Post article  explains: “The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish, an ocean pout, that acts like an ‘on switch’ for the hormone, which conventional salmon produce only some of the time.”

Ron Stotish, President of AquaBounty, is in Washington for a series of FDA hearings regarding the labeling of the product.  Consumer groups argue, should the salmon be approved for sale, the public has a right to know that they are consuming genetically modified fish.

Today, we’ll take your questions and speak with Ron Stotish, President of Waltham-based AquaBounty Technologies as well as Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food and Water Watch, a consumer watchdog group.

Tweet us with your thoughts @radioboston or @pubradiokitchen and call: 1-800-423-TALK at 3pm EST with your questions, comments, and opinions.

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About

Associate Producer, Here & Now Most recently, Jessica worked as an associate producer at WBUR's daily local program, Radio Boston. Jessica moved to Boston in 2008 and has lived many places since leaving her native Texas. After graduating from college, Jessica worked as a federal employee, documentary film festival producer, oral historian, university teaching assistant, traveling saleswoman and klezmer musician. Her work and projects have appeared in The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Bust, Barnard Magazine, National Public Radio, Public Radio International (PRI), and the BBC. Jessica's freelance radio work has received various awards including accolades from the Religion Newswriters Association and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. As a Fulbright Scholar in El Salvador, Jessica collected and studied oral histories from the Jewish Community based in San Salvador. Jessica received her B.A. in political science from Columbia University’s Barnard College and her M.A. in history from Indiana University. She learned how to make radio from the phenomenal folks at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Jessica lives in Somerville with her husband, twin son and daughter, and two cats. To learn more about Jessica’s projects, both current and past, please visit www.jessicaalpert.com.