AquaAdvantage is a genetically engineered Atlantic salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies. It contains a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon and a regulatory gene from the ocean pout, which allows the fish to grow to maturity more quickly than non-genetically engineered Atlantic salmon. The fish is currently approved for sale in the United States and Canada.
Chinook salmon is also known as King salmon, it is a species of anadromous fish in the family Salmonidae. It is native to the North Pacific Ocean and rivers that drain into it, it is the largest species of Pacific salmon. Chinooks can grow up to 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) long and can weigh as much as 126 pounds (57 kg). They are silvery-blue to black on the back and top of the head, with silver sides and a white belly. They have black spots on their tail and upper body.
The Chinook salmon is known as “金果鲑” (jīn guǒ guī) in Chinese. “金果” (jīn guǒ) means Golden fruit and “鲑” (guī) is the Chinese name for salmon fish.
Ocean pout (Zoarces americanus) is a type of fish that belongs to the family Zoarcidae. They are found in the North Atlantic Ocean, typically in coastal waters and along the continental shelf. They are a bottom-dwelling species that lives in cold water, usually at depths between 20 and 600 meters. The ocean pout is a eel-like fish that can grow up to 3 feet (1 meter) in length, and has a dark brown or black body with white spots. They are known for their large mouths and sharp teeth, which they use to catch their prey, mostly small fish and crustaceans. They are also used in genetic engineering research.
The ocean pout is known as “美洲鳕” (měi zhōu xuě) in Chinese. “美洲” (měi zhōu) means America, and “鳕” (xuě) is the Chinese name for this species of fish.
AquaBounty Technologies
AquaBounty Technologies is a biotechnology company that was founded in 1991. The company specializes in the development of genetically modified aquatic species. The company’s primary product is the AquaAdvantage salmon, which is a genetically engineered Atlantic salmon that grows to maturity more quickly than non-genetically engineered salmon. The company was founded by Dr. Garth Fletcher, a geneticist, and Dr. Elliot Entis, a molecular biologist. They began working on the AquaAdvantage salmon in the early 1990s and spent several years developing the technology. The company applied for FDA approval for the AquaAdvantage salmon in 1995, but it wasn’t until 2015 that the FDA approved the fish for human consumption. Since then, the company has been working to commercialize the AquaAdvantage salmon, and in 2020, the company received approval to sell the fish in the United States and Canada.
AquaBounty’s primary focus is currently on the production and sale of its AquaAdvantage eggs, which are sold to fish farmers who then raise the fish to maturity and sell them to retailers or restaurants. The company has production facilities in Canada and in Indiana, USA. But the company has not been able to scale up its production to meet the demand for its product, so the availability of AquaAdvantage salmon in the market is still very limited.
The company that trades under the ticker symbol “AQB” on the NASDAQ stock exchange is AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. readily available. It’s also worth noting that the company is still considered as a developmental stage company, it may not yet generate significant revenue. AquaBounty Technologies first became a public company in 2018 when it started trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “AQB”.
The company went public through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) named “Innovative Industrial Properties Inc.”, which is a publicly traded company that acquires and leases properties to state-licensed operators for the growth and distribution of medical-use cannabis. Through this reverse merger, AquaBounty Technologies became a publicly traded company on January 26, 2018.
The ticker symbol for Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. is “IIPR” and it is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded company that acquires and leases properties to state-licensed operators for the growth and distribution of medical-use cannabis. They are a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the acquisition and leasing of specialized industrial properties for medical-use cannabis cultivation and processing and other state-licensed cannabis-related activities. In 2018, it completed a reverse merger with AquaBounty Technologies, a developer of genetically modified fish for food, and became publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “AQB”.