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Presentation Summary |
Lac Courte
Oreilles Casino and Convention Center
Oct 3-4, 2002 |
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Not Just Genetic Engineering: Genetic Tools Applied to Fisheries Management and Conservation |
Loren Miller
Research Associate
Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology
University of Minnesota
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Modern biotechnology offers more than genetic engineering. I will describe the use of molecular genetic tools for management and conservation of fish populations. In the natural environment, our laboratory has used genetic s to differentiate stocks of yellow perch in Lake Michigan, assess the effects on survival of interbreeding between wild and hatchery steelhead in Lake Superior, compare the survival of multiple strains of walleye stocked simultaneously into lakes, and evaluate hybridization between crappie species. In the hatchery, we used genetic s to monitor breeding practices to assure that genetic variation is maintained in a broodstock for brook trout restoration. All of these studies used molecular genetic techniques to describe existing genetic variation in fish species; we did not genetically alter any of the organisms involved.
Finally, I will briefly discuss biosafety for GMOs in the aquatic environment. Aquatic GMOs are more akin to plant GMOs than to other animal GMOs because it is difficult to prevent and monitor escapes of farmed aquatic organisms and because aquatic GMOs often have many wild relatives with which they might interbreed. Recent modeling exercises suggested that growth-enhanced fish could drive wild fish populations extinct because of trade-offs in mating success and survival. I will describe laboratory experiments underway to test this hypothesis.
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| From The
University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension |
| Sponsored by a grant from USDA/CSREES/IFAFS |
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September 20, 2002
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