Glofish, Jan 4th, and you

[TankGirl]

It is funny about the dog comment, because we have always said we should have gotten two of our mutt-breed dog and told everyone we had a new breed. English bulldog/boxer/chihuahua - you just can't bust 'em!

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Actually, I believe the reason the fish are sterilized (or at least why it is illegal to breed them) is to theoretically prevent the flourescent gene from "wandering", so to speak.

 

[Bluefrog]

Could someone explain why these fish are not allowed inside the boundaries of California?

 

[AdamsZoological]

Only one store locally carries them. *shrugs* look like plain ol danios to me. If there hadn't been a huge sign on the tank saying what they were, I probably would have walked right past them without noticing the difference.

 

[Megalofyia]

Well this is all very disappointing that they don't' have the vivbrant color they were advertised to have.

 

[Madame_X]

Could someone explain why these fish are not allowed inside the boundaries of California?

The legislation in California took a vote and decided they were not going to allow them in the state. They're concerned about the ethics of the whole thing.

Here's an article from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/12/04/fluorescent.fish.ap/

 

[ADCISCO]

Glofish

I knew that there was somewhere that I read about the created the fish to detect dioxin in waterways.

This is a small snippit:

Where do fluorescent zebra fish come from?

Fluorescent zebra fish were specially bred to help detect environmental pollutants. By adding a natural fluorescence gene to the fish, scientists will be able to quickly and easily determine when our waterways are contaminated. The first step in developing these pollution detecting fish was to create fish that would be fluorescent all the time. It was only recently that scientists realized the public's interest in sharing the benefits of this research. We call this the GloFish™ fluorescent fish.

But you might be more interested in reading this: http://www.nus.edu.sg/corporate/research/gallery/research12.htm

I saw the fish before Christmas at our local Petland. They are pretty interesting looking....but they werent that expensive here. Seems like I could have gotten 3 for about 7 something. Which is about average for WV when it comes to fish. But I did read somewhere that they specificly created them to test for dioxin in the waterways of CA and we know that it is against the law to have them in the state of CA....Hummmm makes ya wonder huh? I'll keep looking for the artical!

 

[Raimeiken]

If i was rich, i'd buy them and feed them to my severums. You may never know, my severums might glow like them 8O 8O

 

[Mr Burns]

i just saw these fish about 20 minutes ago. imo, nothing special. they still look and behave like zebra danios, only a lot more expense and tacky looking.

 

[Madame_X]

I saw some for the first time today. I thought they were pretty, actually (this store had them under normal light). But pretty enough to be four times (or more) the price of normal zebra danios?

Uh, no...

 

[mattrox]

I believe a patent lasts 25 years.

I know that when they stock farm dams with trout here, they sometimes warm up (heat treat) the eggs in the hatchery. This apparently makes them sterile. It stops their urges to migrate upstream and such. Maybe the same thing is done here.

I am sure the "Glowfish" factory doesn't re-GM the fish each time. It would be easier to breed them.

 

[tabitha]

i want one i havent seen any at all in my area tho... and i would not buy one for any more than $5 since regular danios (i have zebra danios now) are like 99 cents a piece or less....

 

[PlatyLady]

Saw them at the local SuperPet again today - $19.99 each.

 

[ADCISCO]

Can we all say RIP OFF???? That is rediculous!

 

[tabitha]

^Holy crap i know thats canadian dollars but whew too high for me!!

 

[PK Tester]

My LFS has a gorgeous black gravel set-up with floruescent fake green plants and a special dark flourecnet light for them...they are gorgeous. only in about a 5 1/2 G tank about 20 of them though...pretty hardy fish. $5.99 each.

 

[Allivymar]

Saw em live for the first time today in a lfs. *yawn* Can't say I'm impressed at all.

 

[Dr.Danio]

seeing as this is the kind of thing that I do for a living and the fish weren't designed for entertainment purposes anyway, I think that its a great way to fund the Zhiyuan Gong lab. The reason you can't sell them yourself isn't because 5d tropical has a patent, its because the researchers do, and 5d pays them a crapload of money to sell these to the public. if you really want to know more about them, go here and read the scientific journal articles about them.

http://www.glofish.com/science.asp

especially check out this figure below, and realize that what we get commercially is crap. I've made flourescent fish for experimental purposes before, and these are pretty radical, but still neat.

as for sterilization, I'm sure my lab could bread them, they just can't breed very well naturally. they're radiologically sterilized, but its not 100% and as soon as I see them, i'm goign to see just what percent they are...

edit:d'oh posted the pic 2x