DFO’s 2015 Outstanding Scientific Paper of the Year Award

The 2015 Outstanding Science Paper of the Year Award has been awarded to Assessing Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Growth-Accelerated Genetically Engineered Fishes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biv068), authored by Dr. Robert Devlin (Research Scientist, Pacific Region), Dr. L. Fredrik Sundström (Uppsala University, Sweden) and Dr. Rosalind Leggatt (Visiting Scientist, Pacific Region). This paper was published in BioScience in June 2015.

The Devlin et al. paper was elected as the 2015 Outstanding Scientific Paper of the Year based on its originality, for addressing an emerging issue, and for its ability to generate discussion (it has already been cited 21 times in the scientific literature). It was also chosen because of the paper’s direct relevance to DFO’s responsibilities to provide science advice on the ecological impacts of genetically engineered fish.

The paper takes on a complex scientific question for which clear answers do not exist. It approaches a contentious issue directly and brings sound science to bear on the problem, all while being objectively and clearly written.