Page 141 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

118 M.P. Mueller and D.L. Zeidler

southern Asia. This idea begs the question of whether the FDA should regulate
GloFish if they are likely to impact other ecosystems outside the USA. At the very
least, should FDA regulate the labeling of GloFish for the consumer? What might a
GloFish label include? A primary objection is that these GloFish studies have not
revealed any significant behavioral differences between the wild type and the trans-
genic zebrafish. Intuitively, a transgenic GloFish will have less chance of surviving in
US waterways because of its bright appearance in sunlight, which may provide less
evolutionary advantages in terms of protection from predators. However, there are
many organisms in the natural world that are brightly colored as a way to indicate that
they are highly toxic to predators, while other organisms employ mimicry to protect
themselves against predation. Thus, it does not necessarily follow that brightly
colored zebrafish will be genetically disadvantaged in freshwater systems. It is alarm-
ing that there are few scientific studies focused on the potential implications of the
phenotypic characteristics of ornamental GloFish on their social behavior.
Several scientific researchers (Snekser et al. 2006) found that body coloration
relates to social and reproductive contexts of the zebrafish. These researchers note
TM
that “the red coloration found in transgenic GloFish does not influence choice of
same-sex shoal-mates. Yet, in some circumstances, body coloration does influence
preference for individual, opposite-sex fish” (p. 183). Shoaling with fish of similar
body coloration, body shape, body size, parasite load, and body pattern is thought
to reduce the likelihood of being preyed upon. Snekser et al. found almost no pref-
erence in the GloFish and wild-type zebrafish. They do conclude that the zebrafish
can detect the color red. The red coloration affects mate choice when fish show a
preference for GloFish over wild-type fish of the opposite sex. The researchers
noted that although a strong preference for one type over the other was not detected
in dichotomous tests, further exploration focusing on the success of actual spawning
attempts are now needed, particularly with the emergence of other transgenic
colorations now publicly available in pet stores.
Our review of the current scientific literature produced no such follow-up
TM
research, albeit Yorktown’s “GloFish®: Experience the Glo! ” website notes the
importance of advancing scientific research with a portion of the proceeds from the
sale of every GloFish. As we now know, science research agendas are the by-
product of ethical judgments about where scientists and others decide to pay selec-
tive attention. It would be interesting to know whether proceeds from GloFish sales
will also be used to support scientific research aimed at understanding GloFish
distributions in North America and abroad, and to what extent GloFish are truly
safe for public health and all of the world’s environments. This is where ecojustice
enhances SSI as a way to engage students with more of the ethical considerations.

EcoJustice, Environmentalism, and Socioscientific Reasoning

Ecojustice philosophy (Mueller 2008) can be thought of as a way of enhancing
functional scientific literacy, where there exists a holistic relationship between