In Stunning Display Of "What Will Humans Do Next", Scientists Successfully Fuse Catfish And Alligators Together

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Feb 17, 2023 6:00 PM EST

Sigh, this is one of those posts that we're just shaking our heads at. Humans have made pretty amazing scientific advances in the last 100 years, but we're not sure if this is one of them. The whole point is that alligators have a gene that helps them fight off diseases and infections in their intestines. This is only significant because apparently, up to 40% of young catfish die from disease before they can be harvested. 

Yes, it's true, a lot of fishing agriculture in the US is made up of catfish meat. We didn't know exactly how much until we did our research for this article (around 307 million pounds per year), but catfish can be an incredibly invasive species. They eat everything. If they become more disease resistant, they could end up destroying whole river ecosystems and making more problems than we had before. 

For any who are interested, the full article is here.

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  • 01
    Mouth - SCIENCE Scientists In Alabama Just Created Genetically-Modified Catfish With Alligator DNA
    via all_thats_interesting

    We say it all the time that we love all animals….but catfish are a little hard to love. They just look so….wet. And weird looking. And slimy. But! They're a part of the Earth and everyone has their part to play, but they definitely have a face only a mother could love.

  • 02
    Font - all_thats_interesting Scientists at Auburn University in Alabama recently created genetically-modified catfish - using alligator DNA. Researchers extracted the cathelicidin gene of an alligator, which is found in the creatures' intestines and helps them fight off diseases and infections from wounds sustained while fighting with other alligators. They then used CRISPR to insert the gene into the DNA of farm-raised catfish, hoping it would make them less susceptible to the diseases that kil
    via all_thats_interesting
  • 03
    Font - Assuming these transgenic fish are approved for sale and consumption, Dunham noted, the potential impact on waste reduction could also be a significant boon. As it turns out, Americans eat a lot of catfish. In 2021, U.S. farms produced 307 million pounds of the fish. "On a per-round basis," Dunham said, "anywhere from 60 to 70 percent of U.S. aquaculture is... catfish production. The problem is that from hatching to harvesting, around 40 percent of catfish worldwide die from various disea
    via Austin Harvey
  • 04

    What could be the problem in adding this...

    Mouth
    via Sekernas/Getty Images
  • 05

    to this!

    Fin
    via Twitter/NGSS Phenomena

    The genetically modified catfish is the one on top, and a normal catfish can be seen on the bottom. To our untrained, scientific eye, we can't see much of a difference except for the size, but at the genetic level they are a world of different!

  • 06
    Font - old_wounds_ Can't wait for the Catigator movie
    via old_wounds_
  • 07
    Font - craftbeers4me why? just stop
    via craftbeers4me
  • 08
    Font - abovetheearth There's no way in hell Alabama has scientists.
    via abovetheearth
  • 09
    Font - foxi_real yea because this couldn't possibly go wrong
    via foxi_real
  • 10
    Font - atpix Welcome to Alabamurassic Park
    via atpix
  • 11
    Font - wade_sanchez What could go wrong
    via wade_sanchez

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catfish fusion news alligator SMH humans human Nerd News science research fish science fiction jurassic park weird animals
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