What do you guys think of eating farmed oysters that are genetically manipulated

[bharminder]

Hey guys

From what I've seen on the forums, farmed oysters are ok to eat in terms of farmed meats. I went to this website of a major supplier that sells some oysters locally..

www.coastseafoods.com

And on their site it explains how their oysters are genetically manipulated to become tripload, rather than the normal diploid set. This makes them sterile, however, the website writes that they are less "mushy" in the summer months and easier to farm/breed.

Is this like a seedless fruit and Ok to eat ,,,,,,,,or is it like  a GMO plant like soy or corn?

[Sitting Coyote]

If they say the oysters are GMO, then they're GMO like soya and corn.  I'm not in a position to speak to the risks of eating them, but I personally wouldn't touch them.  Bon apetit!

[bharminder]

If they say the oysters are GMO, then they're GMO like soya and corn.  I'm not in a position to speak to the risks of eating them, but I personally wouldn't touch them.  Bon apetit!

They don't claim GMO. I'm not sure the specific wording they used. here is the particular place in their website where they describe this "triploid oyster"

http://www.coastseafoods.com/triploid_oysters.html


The thing is, I'm not sure whether to liken this triploid oyster with a GMO, or with a fruit that has it's seed breeded out, like a seedless watermelon.

[MoonStalkeR]

The oysters don't seem to be genetically modified, but bred specifically to produce triploids.

They're fine 

[bharminder]

The oysters don't seem to be genetically modified, but bred specifically to produce triploids.

They're fine 

Here is some info i found on google. Does genetically altered mean GMO?


Triploid oysters have been genetically altered so that they are reproductively inactive—virtually sterile. As a result, they attain larger size than normal, or diploid, strains. And because triploids don't undergo the transformations associated with reproduction that make diploid oysters unpalatable during the summer months, they can be marketed all year round. The old adage about not eating oysters in months without an "r" in their name--which probably arose from the fact that diploid oysters become "mushy" during the reproductive phase--doesn't apply to triploids.

Triploids are genetically altered to have three sets of chromosomes in each cell instead of the normal two. The technique involves interrupting the process of maturation of the oyster egg cell using controlled applications of heat, pressure, or a chemical, so that the egg retains two sets of chromosomes, to which the sperm contributes another for a total of three. Ordinarily, in the process called meiosis, the egg cell ultimately reduces its set of two chromosomes to one before uniting with the sperm chromosome, producing the normal complement of two chromosomes that are found in diploid organisms.

[MoonStalkeR]

That is distinct from the GMO used in mainstream food, the "modifications" are not as significant. Upon reading their page, I thought of the method as a stimulated form of selective breeding. Most of the hazards of GMO are unlikely to be encountered with these oysters, but I would like to know more about this myself.

Sometimes I order oysters from a Japanese restaurant resembling the triploids in the link you posted.

[eveheart]

In the world of GMO, what I object to is inserting the genes from one species into another species to develop a desired trait that would be impossible in the target species. It seems that these oysters are produced to increase the likelihood of a naturally-occurring variation. That sounds okay to me...

... and besides all that, a plumper oyster! well, I'm speechless with joy!!!

[bharminder]

Can you liken it to breeding fruits without seeds?

Another thing about these oysters is that they come pre-shucked. Is that appropriate? Shellfish decay rapidly. These taste fine though. Anybody object to eating pre-shucked oysters? let me know!

[MoonStalkeR]

Seedless fruit sounds similar to me.

If they taste good and have no additives then I would eat them. Do they come in those plastic jars? Saves the problem of shucking them.

[CitrusHigh]

I have found that in the long run, it's not a good idea to fuck with nature beyond a certain point. Genetic manipulation goes well beyond that point. Even farming is kind of a silly thing to do. Permaculture is about as far as I would go. We shouldn't be forcing nature anywhere, gentle nudges are the best we can do. This is hard to understand if you've never lived within her seasons or spent much time outside getting used to wet and cold, and insect bites and all that stuff. But once you understand that she is a mother and she's there to provide abundantly for you, you begin to have a strong desire to work with her and nurture her in the same way she nurtures you. That does not include messing with the very genes that make her creatures what they are.

Of course the people of Monsanto don't think they're bastardizing nature, they think they're helping to feed the world and turning a tidy profit in the process, that's why raising awareness calmly and constantly is the best avenue to changing things back to the way they should be. It will happen on its own eventually, either some genetic disaster will come about wiping out the world's staple crops or species of fish or whatever and we'll have seen that we didn't even have to lift a finger in the first place. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do our best to educate and alter the course mainstream science is on. Think of all the trillions of wasted dollars, spent looking for cures to cancer and aids and yadda yadda yadda, can you imagine where we would be as a species if all that time and money and energy were put in to something efficacious? But in reality it's not wasted, this is a learning experience and since time and space are illusions anyway, nothing has been lost. This is a very exciting time in human history, this is the true dawning of consciousness! haha, well I think so anyway!