Researchers & Genetics

[mr_gourami]

does anyone here work in genetics? im workin on that degree now. but i had a thought but no idea if i was the only one with this idea for a future. but i had the idea that with genetics we could alter the dna coding of anything with work. and thus how much would it take to change a saltwater fish into a freshwater fish. from what i read in my bio book a simply basic difference is the proton pumps present in one but not the other. well do yall think this would take off in the hobby world? like a freshwater seahorse? it is much more complex but heavens the idea is exciting...

[thepiratesship]

I do quite a bit of molecular genetics for a living, and while your idea is exciting, I don't necessarily know how feasible it is. To begin with, I'm relatively certain that it is more than a single proton pump that differentiates freshwater fish from saltwater. The difference in osmolarity between the two types of water tells me there must also be some ion channels or transporters that are different, or are at least regulated differently. But, even assuming that it was simply one proton pump that was different, you wouldn't be able to simply knock it out or clone it in for various reasons. First, it could potentially be required for other fish functions, such as digestion, reproduction, etc, (or even affect the color, making the fish less desireable) and therefore knocking it out or adding it in would have lethal side effects. The other thing is that very rarely is a gene always on or always off. We would have to have a better understanding of how it is regulated in the body.

Exciting idea, and it would be great for a lot of hobbyists (ethical issues aside), but I think it is far too complex to consider with where the field stands today.
So yeah, while the