AquaBounty Technologies
AquaBounty Technologies is a biotechnology company based in Maynard, Massachusetts, United States. The company is notable for its research and development of genetically modified fish.[2] It aims to create products that aim to increase the productivity of aquaculture.[3] As of 2020, sale of salmon has been approved in Canada and the United States.
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Traded as | NASDAQ: AQB Russell Microcap Index component |
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Industry | Biotechnology aquaculture |
Founded | 1991[1] |
Headquarters | Maynard, Massachusetts [1] |
Key people | Ronald L. Stotish (President & CEO) |
Parent | Intrexon |
Website | aquabounty.com |
Products
The company has developed hybrid salmon, trout, and tilapia designed to grow faster than traditional fish. Only the salmon has progressed to government (Canada, United States) approvals.[4] Their hybrid Atlantic salmon incorporates a gene from a Chinook salmon, which bears a single copy of the stably integrated α-form of the opAFP-GHc2 gene construct at the α-locus in the EO-1α line (Ocean Pout AKA Eel).[5] AquaBounty has patented and trademarked this fish as the AquAdvantage salmon, a sterile Atlantic salmon female that can grow to market size in half the time of conventional salmon.[6]
The company was reported to have made its first sale of 4.5 tonnes of AquaAdvantage salmon to Canadian customers in July 2017.[7]
Finances
In 2012, a New York Times article reported the finances of AquaBounty were not in good shape and the company had to reduce staff from 27 to 12.[8] In March 2012, AquaBounty raised US$2 million in new capital, but this would only last until the end of the year.[8]
Georgian investor Kakha Bendukidze owned 47.6% of the company's stock before selling to American synthetic biology firm Intrexon in October 2012. Intrexon put up $500,000 in bridge financing and offered to buy the rest of the company.[6][9] Intrexon acquired majority ownership of Aquabounty in 2013.[10]
References
- "Company & History". Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
- http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/20/headlines/canada_approves_sale_of_genetically_modified_salmon
- "AquaBounty Technologies Company Overview". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
- Chesto, Jon (March 24, 2019). "AquaBounty's genetically engineered fish swim closer to sales in US". Boston Globe. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- Staveley, Jane P. (25 August 2010). "Environmental Assessment for AquAdvantage Salmon" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
- Pollack, Andrew (December 21, 2012). "Engineered Fish Moves a Step Closer to Approval". The New York Times.
- Waltz,Nature, Emily. "First Genetically Engineered Salmon Sold in Canada". Scientific American. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
- Pollack, Andrew (21 May 2012) An Entrepreneur Bankrolls a Genetically Engineered Salmon. The New York Times, Retrieved 3 October 2012
- "Delays put question mark over GM salmon as development company receives bid". Fishupdate.com. December 10, 2012. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013.
- Jacob Bunge (15 December 2015) Firm Bets on Biotech That Changes How Food Is Produced. The Wall Street Journal, retrieved 30 January 2016