The Council of Agriculture in Taiwan surprised the world last week by stating that they had successfully created fluorescent cichlids. These cichlids were created by breeding trangenic Convict cichlids and Angelfish.
The creation of this fish was the brain child of the Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s national research academy, and took just shy of 7 years to accomplish.
Some other innovative fish that this group has cooked up are the GloFish Zebra danio (Danio rerio) and the fluorescent Medaka (Oryzias latipes). These fish have been authorized for sale, and quite popular, since 2003 when they first hit the market in Taiwan as an aquarium fish.
Dr. Chih-Yi Chen, the head of the investigative team which created this cichlid, has stated that creating this cichlid took a lot of effort because of the lack of control they had over the spawning process, as compared to the smaller fish they previously tinkered with.
The scientists had to literally sit by the aquarium and wait for the fish to spawn so that the gene fragments could be immediately inserted into the Convict cichlid eggs. If it is not injected immediately, the results don’t seem to take.. This made the whole process very fickle.
An even greater obstacle was overcome, when they were in the process of spawning the fluorescent angelfish, as the couldn’t use micro-injection techniques in the same manner as with the Convict cichlids. In this case, they needed to apply an electric field to the cell membrane, in order to inject the gene fragments.
Well, they pulled it off.. The only question now is… What the heck is it good for? A fish nightlight?
Fluorescent Convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) - Pic by JY Lin Co Ltd
what light is on these tanks?
wow thats amazing there is finally a fish the glows in the dark that is soo awsome!!!!
how do I order some of these fish
this is beond wrong
As far as I know they are only available to breeders at this time. You should likely start seeing them in stores in 1-2 years.
How is this wrong? They are beautiful!
If they are wrong or not depends on whether you accept artificially created species or not. I don´t have anything against them either.
i my self think they are very pretty and look forward to adding them to our tanks!!
This is so wrong in sooo many ways, pretty or not it’s wrong.
The issue is they are not all sterile as the “makers” claim, they are litery copyrighted. The one from 2003 is, so we can be pretty shure these are too. So even if you get a non sterile pair, the fry will be illegal copies and not legal to sell. (I don’t think any lawenforcement will take this to court) still it’s wrong.
Looking at it from a natual point of view, it could in theory go really wrong if they where to find a way back into nature. Hybrids do happen with fish too, one speicies of cichlids can cross with others.
But Asia have always made/breeding some f**d up pets and animals, so im shure this is not the last we have seen of this kinda odd stuff.
hope i get some of those cause I’m breed some Convict cichlid too.
i would love to buy some of these glo fish please email me at oreo3704@yahoo.com if you know how to get them
Its wrong to genetically engineer fish in such a manner, regardless how “pretty” they are, that is why Genetically Modified Foods were banned. You’ll be hard pushed to get any GM fish in the EU as there is a ban on their import.
Interesting point by Ferienissen,
On a biosecurity scale, the impacts of introduced aliens has had highly detrimental effects on ecosystems globally. Take for instance the Possum in New Zealand and how it has had a major impact on the local terrestrial fauna. Or the introduction of the Wattle in Southern Africa that has also colonised a large majority of the land previously inhabited by local fynbos.
However, it is an interesting feat to have accomplished, regardless of the nation the discovery first originated in. If you were the scientist in your country getting paid money to do research like this would you not want it to be done aswell? I think the GM side of it is fascinating. Imagine the possiblity it would have in the hospitality industry as aquarium lobby light sources or in the home as a fundamental piece of the furniture.
I myself have three tanks at home. A full scale artemia grow out system and photobioreactors for algal culture. I love the aquarium hobby and prefer it so much that the television sockets have been utilized for fishtank equipment.
However, I can only advise those who do become the owners of such genetically altered animals to be vigilant with the responsibility they hold. Follow local biosecurity recommendations and get advice on disposal of said mortalities.
As pretty as they are, forget not that the survival of entire species of tropical fish may lie in your hands