New publications
Natural fish oil may soon be replaced by genetically modified plants
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Scientists have genetically modified the camelina, a herbaceous plant from the cabbage family. The specialists managed to make the plant capable of producing fatty acids, which are found in fish oil and are very useful for the entire human body.
Cod liver, salmon meat, mackerel contain a large amount of omega-3 fatty acids. For humans, the most beneficial are DHA (docosahexaenoic) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic) acids, which help reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, and also improve vision, memory, and attention.
Both acids are present in breast milk, and the human body can produce a small amount of EPA from alpha-linolenic acid, which is found in nuts and vegetable oil. Fish is the main source that allows you to enrich the human body with fatty acids necessary for health, but the body of fish is not able to produce such acids. In their usual habitat, large fish are enriched with them after eating smaller fish that feed on algae. And fish grown in artificial conditions receive useful acid compounds with special food. This is why fish bred in such conditions cannot provide an uninterrupted supply of fat for the production of many biologically active additives (BAA).
Therefore, specialists from Great Britain, headed by Jonathan Napier, decided to fix this with the help of genetic engineering. They took as a basis seven genes, due to which fatty acids are produced. These genes were introduced into the Camelina sativa plant, which contains a large amount of ALA. The seeds of this plant, after special processing, turned into oil, which contains about 12% EPA and 14% DHA (a similar amount of acids is observed in fish oil). Specialists expect to introduce the oil to the market within ten years. The resulting plant oil, enriched with fatty acids, will eventually allow to replenish a number of food supplements. Currently, capsules containing fish oil are used to obtain fatty acids. Scientists do not intend to completely replace natural fish oil, but according to experts, even 10% of the substitute can significantly reduce stress caused by a lack of fish. The World Health Organization recommends consuming up to 1000 mg of fatty acids daily. Currently, the pharmaceutical market can only supply half of the world's population with fish oil capsules.
Scientists have proven for a long time that fish oil is useful, and new positive qualities of acids for the human body are constantly being established. For example, it has been proven that fish oil helps burn calories effectively, since fatty acids promote an accelerated metabolism process, and also prevent the development of diseases associated with obesity. Taking fish oil during pregnancy helps the correct development of the embryo's vision and brain, and also improves the coordination of the future baby.
Contraindications to the use of fish oil are excess calcium and vitamin D in the body, active tuberculosis, hypersensitivity to the drug, renal failure, thyroid disease, urolithiasis and cholelithiasis.
[