Image by Lance Anderson.

Since its inception over ten years ago, CounterPunch covered the attempt to sell and market the genetic modified (GM) AquAdvantage salmon. Most CounterPunch readers will be happy to know that AquaBounty Technologies, the company that produced the “Frankenfish,” has shut down, largely thanks to grocery chain rejection.

But that doesn’t mean new GM animals have disappeared. In fact, they are thriving largely through flying under the public radar.

Like feeding food/farm animals with hormones, antibiotics and growth promoters to make them gain weight faster, the creation of GM animals is presented as “feeding” more people. The truth is the genetic “improvements” usually only benefit industrial farmers as they create more “profitable” animals that can be grown and processed more quickly.

For example, Giuseppe Ambrosi, European Dairy Association president, told Dairy Global that, “Genome editing has been found to be a valuable tool for lightening the hair and coat color to better adapt dairy cattle to rapidly changing climatic conditions.” Dark coats absorb more “solar radiation”––so here’s a solution to climate change!

National Hog Farmer, another industry outlet, wrote that genetic engineering “has the potential to transform how we

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