There is no chance, independent scientists say, that released salmon would win a Darwinian war in open waters with wild salmon the so-called Trojan gene effect.

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More studies will now be carried out, looking at the gene's effect on women, and seeing if this first study's results are replicated.

BBC: Gene linked to heart disease risk

Professor Nevin said that cancer was always seen as a possible side-effect of this type of gene therapy.

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One of the researchers Dr Hee Cheol Cho, from Cedars-Sinai, told the BBC he expected the same method to work in the human heart as they used a human gene, Tbx18, to generate the effect.

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But there are only a few cases where we know the relationship of a specific mutation to a specific effect, and also only a small number of cases where an effect is determined by a single gene rather than the combined effects of hundreds or thousands of genes.

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The gene they chose is involved in the synthesis of a hormone called gibberellin and, once again, a side-effect of the alteration was to cause the trees to grow faster.

ECONOMIST: GM trees are on their way