Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / December 2003

     Fluorescent Fish Set to Enter U.S. market
     Mon Dec 29, 8:30 AM ET

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - American aquariums could soon be aglow with bright red
fluorescent fish, the nation's first genetically altered household pet. Soon
other fish could follow, glowing under black light like the colors of a
rainbow.

The trademarked GloFish are being sent to selected pet stores in advance of
their official Jan. 5 debut - everywhere except in California, where
regulators have banned most uses of such transgenic species for fear they
could spread into the wild and harm native populations.

To create the fish, researchers at National University of Singapore spliced
a sea anemone gene into what nature intended as a black-and-silver zebra
fish, a species common in aquariums around the world. They made a freshwater
fish with the bright red color of a tropical saltwater ......