I am the first to say that the anti GMO
cadre has been promoted by the usual cadre of suspects whose idea of scientific
rigor would shame a mining promoter.
Problem is that I have only now come to review the body of literature to
see what the fuss is. It is actually
appalling. It only starts with carefully
selected time periods on animal tests.
Let me be a little clearer. When you bring a new product into the human
food chain, the first and simplest test to conduct is a feeding experiment with
decent numbers run until natural death.
Anything other than that is a huge red flag and claims otherwise is
simply gaming the system.
They did not even try to falsify the
evidence, they simply cut the test time to a safe period.
After you read the first couple of
articles, read the last one out of Guelph
University
There are no rebuttals and it appears that
the stonewalling game is on. Recall that
any admission would trigger the class action lawsuit able to bankrupt this industry.
I do not see just how this story can be
suppressed much longer. We have two
independent studies effectively confirming the work done a decade ago by Pusztai
and it is bad. You do not want this crap
in your diet.
For now we can likely safely assume that
individual exposure in a balanced diet is fairly minimal but excessive
otherwise. Yet labeling is truly
necessary here and plenty of studies are required.
Scientist
that discovered GMO health hazards immediately fired, team dismantled
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 26, 2012
(NaturalNews) Though it barely received any media attention at the time, a renowned British biochemist who back in 1998 exposed the shocking truth about how genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) cause organ damage, reproductive failure, digestive dysfunction, impaired immunity, and cancer, among many other conditions, was immediately fired from his job, and the team of researchers who assisted him dismissed from their post within 24 hours from the time when the findings went public.
Arpad Pusztai, who is considered to be one of the world's most respected and well-learned biochemists, had for three years led a team of researchers from Scotland's prestigious Rowett Research Institute (RRI) in studying the health effects of a novel GM potato with built-in Bt toxin. Much to the surprise of many, the team discovered that, contrary to industry rhetoric, Bt potato was responsible for causing severe health damage in test rats, a fact that was quickly relayed to the media out of concern for public health.
But rather than be praised for their honest assessment into this genetically-tampered potato, Pusztai and his colleagues were chastised by industry-backed government authorities, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose office was discovered to have secretly contacted RRI just hours after Pusztai and his team announced the results of their study on television. For speaking the truth, Pusztai was immediately fired from his position, and his team dismissed from their positions at the school.
Research
out of Egypt
As reported recently in Egypt Independent, similar research by
Hussein Kaoud from Cairo University
"I recorded the alteration of different organs, shrinkage of kidneys, change in the liver and spleen, appearance of malignant parts in the tissues, (and) kidney failure and hemorrhages in the intestine," said Kaoud about the effects of GMOs as observed in the test rats. "The brain functions were touched as well, and the rats' learning and memory abilities were seriously altered."
In Kaoud's case, his groundbreaking findings will soon be published in the respected journals Neurotoxicology and Ecotoxicology. But it remains to be seen whether or not the scientific community at large, which is heavily influenced by biotechnology interests, and the political structures that control it will accept the results as valid, or pull a similar character assassination on Kaoud and his team as punishment for defying the status quo.
What all this clearly illustrates, of course, is that modern science can hardly be considered the independent, truth-seeking, "gold standard" of interpreting and understanding reality that many people mistakenly think it is. The truth about GMOs, as uncovered by mounds of independent research, is that they are inadequately safety tested, at best, and deadly at worst. But this fact remains shrouded in deception, thanks to the corporatized, pro-GMO culture of mainstream science.
###
Tests on rats suggest genetically modified foods
pose health hazards
Sun, 12/08/2012 - 12:00
When scientist
Hussein Kaoud decided to test genetically modified food on rats, he produced
results that were extremely alarming and corroborate the conclusions that some
international, independent scientists have reached.
Kaoud, of Cairo
University’s Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene, fed nine groups of rats and mice
different genetically modified foods — food made from organisms that have been
biologically modified to incorporate genes with desired traits — and analyzed
their physiological and psychological reactions.
The most common
genetically engineered crops can resist herbicides or even create their own
insecticides. Others have been manipulated in laboratories to enhance their
tolerance to drought and water scarcity.
While some genes
are extracted from another plant and inserted in the genome of the new super
plant, the most commonly added gene is Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt — a soil
bacterium that naturally produces crystal proteins fatal to insects. When a Bt
gene is inserted into corn or cotton, each plant in the field becomes an
insecticide that causes insects’ stomachs to rupture when they feed on it.
Ninety-five
percent of genetically modified crops planted worldwide come from Monsanto, the
world’s leading biotechnology and genetic engineering company. The four main
genetically modified crops are corn, soya, canola and cotton, and they have
spread all over the world since their initial commercialization in 1995.
Egypt agreed to
import Monsanto’s genetically modified corn, MON 810, in 2008. The crop can
resist a pest called the corn borer. Two shipments of 70 and 40 tons
respectively have already arrived in the country.
The 70-ton
shipment arrived in Egypt
There are many
issues related to genetically modified organisms. Some are environmental,
because most of these genetically modified crops pollinate, and fields with
regular crops located in a perimeter of 50 kilometers can be contaminated.
There are also
patent issues. As soon as Monsanto or another biotechnology company breaks the
genome of the plant to insert a new gene, the seed becomes the property of the
company and is subjected to intellectual property rights — a big threat to
farmers’ independence worldwide and to their right to save seeds and replant
them the next season.
These modified
crops also threaten biodiversity. Companies flood the market with uniform
seeds, which would endanger food security if a disease attacks these plants. In
that situation, most of the world’s production of corn, soy, canola or cotton
could be eradicated.
All these issues
are major but might not be enough to deter the consumer to buy and eat these
products, said Jeffrey Smith, the executive director and founder of the US
Institute for Responsible Technology, a world leader in educating policymakers
and the public about genetically modified food and crops.
In an interview
available on YouTube, Smith said that people might hear about the dangers of
these products and even be upset about them, but they might go out and buy them
anyway.
“But if you
explain to a consumer that eating a corn chip that is genetically engineered
might turn your intestinal bacteria into a living pesticide factory, then they
put on the brakes,” Smith said.
It seems normal
to think that Monsanto should have conducted all human and animal safety tests
before commercializing their genetically modified products in local and foreign
markets. But large agro-industrial companies have refused to test them, because
they have massively invested in developing them — so they pushed for
genetically modified food to be considered substantially equivalent to
non-modified crops, which means that genetically modified crops are under the
same regulation as the traditional ones.
As a result, genetically
modified food did not undergo any long-term safety assessments before being
introduced on the market.
Egyptian
scientists experiment
Kaoud decided to
self-fund an experiment on the impact of feeding genetically modified food to
rats and mice in a lab from the Veterinary Hygiene Department of Cairo
Between January
and March last year, he fed nine groups of rodents different genetically
modified foods such as potatoes, corn, grapes and tomatoes. Those foods
comprised about 10 percent of the animals’ diets, and the remaining 90 percent
was conventional, non-genetically modified food.
Symptoms started
appearing after four weeks into the experiment.
“I recorded the
alteration of different organs, shrinkage of kidneys, change in the liver and
spleen, appearance of malignant parts in the tissues, kidney failure and
hemorrhages in the intestine,” Kaoud said. “The brain functions were touched as
well, and the rats’ learning and memory abilities were seriously altered,” he
said.
Kaoud said he
also recorded lower immune responses to the diseases in the rats that became
much more sensitive to environmental pollution, especially heavy metals and
dioxin. Some developed cancer.
He also observed
another alarming problem. The death rate of baby rats raised by mothers on a
diet of genetically modified corn increased by 35 percent, compared with the
group of babies whose mothers ate natural corn, and they were considerably
smaller. Half of them died after three weeks.
Mohamed Fathy, a
plant pathologist at Monufiya University, is also in the process of publishing
two papers related to the issue. In one of them, he fed genetically modified
corn to goats and sheep, which experienced liver and kidney deficiencies - just
like Kaoud’s rodents.
Fathy seems
confident that the new agriculture minister, Salah Youssef, will take his and
Kaoud’s experiments’ seriously.
“The minister
comes from a scientific research background, so I am sure that he will be very
concerned by our findings and that he will eventually change the Agriculture
Ministry’s policy regarding genetically modified organisms, and block the next
shipment of Monsanto genetically modified corn,” Fathy said.
Alarming results
On an
international level, some of the world’s most renowned scientists from various
independent research institutes, such as the Rowett Institute in Scotland, the
Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and the CRIIGEN in Paris, have conducted
similar genetically modified food experiments on rats, mice and other animals.
Their results
corroborate Kaoud’s observations: The rodents had reproductive problems, immune
system issues, accelerating aging, cholesterol, organ damage and
gastrointestinal problems.
Arpad Pusztai of
the Rowett Research Institute in Scotland US
wanted to export the potato to the UK
Having fed
groups of rats large amounts of this insecticide over a long period, Pusztai
knew the rats were not sensitive to it. So he created three groups of rats: The
first was fed genetically modified potatoes, the second was fed natural
potatoes and the third was fed natural potatoes with the insecticide sprinkled
on top.
His results were
unprecedented. Pusztai discovered that the rats fed the genetically modified
potato were sick with pre-cancerous cell growth in the digestive tract, smaller
brain, liver and testicles, with partial atrophy of the liver and a damaged
immune system. His findings showed that genetic engineering caused the damage
to the rats, not the insecticide itself.
In 1998, Pusztai
went public and announced the results of his experiment on TV. The next day, he
was fired and his research team was dismantled. A phone call from 10 Downing Street
He was
supposedly blamed for having disclosed partial results of his experiment before
his paper was reviewed by peer scientists and published in a scientific
journal.
In Egypt
“Egypt needs to
freeze the process of importing until additional tests have been conducted,
because as it is, the product is not safe for human consumption,” Kaoud says.
“Whether these
scientific publications will impact further shipments depends on whether the
such shipments will seek legal approval by the competent authority, namely the
Ministry of Environment, or will be imported illegally,” says Osama El Tayeb, a
microbiology and immunology professor at the Pharmacy Faculty of 6th of October
University who has also acted as Egypt’s focal point for biosafety issues since
2000.
“The question is
not only political but touches on public participation and the fight against
corruption. The Ministry of Environment has been briefed but the public should
take a stand as well,” El Tayeb concludes.
###
GMO
Dangers
Genetically modified foods…
The American Academy of Environmental
Medicine (AAEM) doesn’t think
so. The Academy reported that “Several animal studies indicate serious health
risks associated with GM food,” including infertility, immune problems,
accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and
the gastrointestinal system. The AAEM asked physicians to advise patients to
avoid GM foods.
Before the FDA decided
to allow GMOs into food without labeling, FDA
scientists had repeatedly
warned that GM foods can create unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects,
including allergies, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They
urged long-term safety studies, but were ignored.
- Thousands of
sheep, buffalo, and goats in Indiadied after grazing on Bt cotton plants
- Mice eating GM corn for the long term
had fewer, and smaller, babies
- More than half the babies of mother rats
fed GM soy died within three weeks, and were smaller
- Testicle cells
of mice and rats on a GM soy change significantly
- By the third generation, most GM soy-fed
hamsters lost the ability to have babies
- Rodents fed GM corn and soy showed immune
system responses and signs of toxicity
- Cooked GM soy contains as much as 7-times the amount of a known
soy allergen
- Soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in the
- The stomach lining of rats fed GM
potatoes showed excessive cell growth, a condition that may lead to cancer.
- Studies showed organ lesions, altered
liver and pancreas cells, changed enzyme levels, etc.
Unlike safety
evaluations for drugs, there are no human clinical trials of GM foods. The only
published human feeding experiment revealed that the genetic material inserted
into GM soy transfers into bacteria living inside our intestines and continues
to function. This means that long after we stop eating GM foods, we
may still have their GM proteins produced continuously inside us. This could mean:
- If the antibiotic gene inserted into most
GM crops were to transfer, it could create super diseases, resistant to
antibiotics
- If the gene that creates Bt-toxin in GM
corn were to transfer, it might turn our intestinal bacteria into living
pesticide factories.
Although no studies
have evaluated if antibiotic or Bt-toxin genes transfer, that is one of the key
problems. The safety assessments are too superficial to even identify most of
the potential dangers from GMOs. See our Health Risks brochure and State of the Science report for more
details and citations.
Recent health studies
provide growing evidence of harm from GMOs:
Health Impacts of GMO Food
by Stephanie Orford
In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, genetically modified (GM) or
genetically engineered (GE) crops were a hot-button issue around the world.
They were originally developed by corporations like Monsanto to increase yield
by keeping crops insect repellent and tolerant of herbicides. Companies spoke
of crops that would feed impoverished countries, manufacture pharmaceuticals
and clean up the environment. Critics called GMOs (Genetically Modified
Organisms) a multi-pronged threat to human health, the environment, and even
democracy.
In the National Film Board of Canada documentary, The Genetic Takeover,
made in 2000, the biologist and author Arnaud Apoteker asks, "How can we
know the long-term effects when these products were only put on the market four
or five years ago? I believe a handful of multinationals are conducting a
health and epidemiological experiment on the whole human race."
Now? Barely a peep from the populace.
Meanwhile, Monsanto, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta, and other "Ag
biotech" companies have continued to create GM crops that flood the
marketplace. These Ag biotech companies own over 35 percent of the
international seed market. Their four largest crops, cotton, canola, soy, and
corn, take up over 99 percent of GM crop land. The International Service for
the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) claims that GMO crops
cover over 282 million acres worldwide. Greenpeace says 60 percent of processed
foods include some GMO.
Despite decreased public interest, researchers have continued to look
into the effects of GMO foods on health, some with startling results. The
evidence for ill health effects caused by GM foods is limited, but so are
independent studies themselves, largely due to lack of government funding.
However, the startling evidence for GM health effects available, from animal
experiments done since the late ‘90s, as well as anecdotes from around the
world, suggest that GM foods can indeed have serious wide-ranging health
effects.
Ann Clark, an associate professor in the Department of Plant
Agriculture at Guelph University says health issues of GM crops have emerged
numerous times, starting with Arpad Pusztai in the late ‘90s, who was
"crucified" for speaking out about his research on the health effects
of GM crops on animals. The regulatory bodies "just aren't paying any
attention," she says. Clark started researching GMOs on her own time in
the late ‘90s, and has since become an outspoken critic in Canada
Jeffrey M. Smith's book, Genetic Roulette, published in 2007, is a
painstakingly-researched account of the health effects of GM foods. Smith
claims that up until 2007 there had only been about 20 independent,
peer-reviewed animal feeding studies on the health effects of GM crops. That's
a tiny number considering the size of the Ag biotech business and its impacts.
According to Clark and Smith, the studies Ag biotech companies conducted to
gain approval from governments are poor. They do not investigate long-term
effects, use dubious statistical methods, and fail to measure many relevant
factors, such as inflammatory reaction and organ damage to the test animals.
In his book, Smith recounts several key observations and experiments
that suggest GM foods indeed cause serious health effects.
Reaction to Bt Crops
Allergic reactions associated with GM Bt products have been found in
humans and animals. Bt is an insecticidal protein incorporated into the genome
of Bt plants by genetic engineering. In theory, Bt allows farmers to use less
insecticides on their crops. In 2004 and 2005, cotton pickers in India India Philippines
Controlled experiments have also shown negative impacts of GM Bt crops.
Rats fed Monsanto's MON 863 Bt corn in a 90-day trail showed significantly
increased immune cell counts and blood sugar, and significantly decreased
kidney weight, compared to the control group. A scientist who assessed these
findings for the French Commission For Biomolecular Genetics, Gilles-Eric
Séralini, said that the rats' reactions were similar to those caused by
pesticides.
The Bt insecticide gene was also incorporated into potatoes. A study on
mice compared the effects of these GM potatoes with non-GM potatoes which had
Bt added to them. Results were similar between the groups, with animals from
both groups displaying abnormally high cell proliferation in the intestines, as
well as abnormality of cells in the intestinal lining. These effects suggest
that the GM Bt potatoes may act as a carcinogen on the intestinal lining.
Put together, this evidence shows that Bt products may not actually
reduce the effects of pesticides on the consumer, but may be just as harmful,
causing problems from serious inflammation, to toxic organ damage, to cancer.
Rats and Roundup Ready Soy
In feeding trials of GM soy, 12 female rats fed Roundup Ready soy, a GM
soy crop which has herbicide tolerance genes incorporated into its genome,
showed liver problems commonly associated with higher liver function. Their
livers seemed to have been working harder to detoxify the effects of the GM soy
compared to the rats who were fed non-GM soy. These effects mostly disappeared
after researchers replaced the GM soy with non-GM soy in the rats' diets.
In another experiment, mice fed Roundup Ready soy experienced reduced
activity of their testicular cells. This result could have serious implications
on human fertility.
In the dramatic results of a series of experiments, 25 of 45 rat
offspring died after their mothers were fed GM soy prior to and during
pregnancy. Compare this to three deaths out of 33 for non-GM soy-fed rats, and
three out of 44 for non-soy-fed rats. Many of the organs of the GM-soy-fed
offspring were much smaller than those of the non-GM groups. Even the young
rats themselves were much smaller. [See "She Fed the Rats GM Soy,"
WS, January-February 2006].
Other Reactions
Studies of other GM crops have suggested other health effects,
including infertility, allergies, and stunted growth in young animals. Farmers
in Iowa
Australian GM developers cancelled release of their GM peas after they
triggered allergic inflammation in mice. The kidney beans that the inserted
gene had come from did not produce an inflammatory reaction. It appears that
the way the gene reacted with the pea genome and metabolism changed the body's
reaction to the gene's protein product.
Female rats fed a version of Calgene's FlavrSavr tomato developed
bleeding stomachs. Many more rats that ate FlavrSavr died during the 28-day
study compared to the control group.
Smith's examples of eyewitness reports and news stories are not
scientific experiments, so they are inconclusive. However, they point to major
health effects that GM foods might cause, leading to potentially catastrophic
human health issues. At the very least Smith's anecdotal evidence shows that
the health effects of GMOs desperately need international attention,
regulation, and further study.
Smith writes that, in 1999, a study done on over 4000 people in the U.K.
In a more recent experiment published in 2009, Séralini and his
colleagues compared the effects of three GM corn varieties on rat health over
15 weeks. The animals showed signs of exposure to toxicity in several organs,
especially their livers and kidneys. The researchers proposed these organs were
reacting to the toxicity of the pesticides the GM corn varieties had been
modified to produce.
In another twist, scientists are just beginning to investigate whether
GM foods can transmit their GM genes to human gut bacteria.
The results from these animal experiments should be taken with a grain
of salt when applied to humans. Our bodies are similar, but not the same, as
those of rats and other lab animals. And unlike lab rats, we control our own
diets. Most people eat a large variety of foods, not all of them containing
genetically modified organisms. Increasing numbers of us are choosing
unprocessed and organic foods that presumably don't contain GMOs. Nevertheless,
the proportion of GMOs in the North American diet is high, especially for
people who eat a lot of processed food. And labeling of GM foods is not
mandatory in Canada
The Case of LY038 Corn
Recently, Renessen, a joint venture between Monsanto and Cargill,
produced a high-lysine GM corn called LY038 for livestock feed. It was approved
in Canada in 2006, but when the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the
organization that recommends regulations for foods to the EU Commission, looked
deeper at Monsanto's animal feeding trial and asked questions in fall 2009,
Monsanto withdrew their application.
Critics, including Clark, and Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), are asking why Canada
In an email, EFSA told Watershed Sentinel they requested the company
use a different comparison corn variety than the ones used in the studies - a
major change in the experiment's design that could drastically affect results.
"The panel considered that the tests were not sufficient to conclude on
safety and this issue needed further attention," EFSA stated..
In response to why they had withdrawn the application of LY038,
Monsanto told Watershed Sentinel in an email that they had, "Absolutely NO
safety concerns whatsoever," over LY038 corn, and that they did not
withdraw their application due to health concerns. "There is no reason
[for withdrawal], other than Renessen's decision not to commercialize due to
decreased commercial value."
Outdated Genetic Model
"We now know that when you insert a gene - when you randomly throw
this thing in there, they don't know ahead of time where it's going to
land," says Clark . The researchers don't
know how many copies will be inserted, or what other genes it will affect, or
will affect it. We now know that the position of a gene is critical to how it
functions, and side effects of this are unpredictable and could be drastic,
Clark and Smith both say.
Clark uses the words "ludicrous," "embarrassing,"
and "painful" to describe Canada Canada Clark .
No Canadian GM submissions have ever been rejected.
Neither is Canadian regulation transparent to the public, says
Sharratt. She says the Canadian public has no say in approval of GMOs.
Independent scientists can't evaluate feeding studies the Ag Biotech companies
submit because they are deemed confidential. "The Canadian regulatory
system is supporting the biotechnology industry ahead of the health and welfare
of Canadian consumers and farmers," Sharratt says.
How does CBAN suggest Canada
The consequences of the Canadian government's method of dealing with
GMOs could be dire, say Sharratt and Clark. The current evidence on the
negative effects GM foods have on human and animal health signals a grave need
for the Canadian government to take a closer look at GM foods and how they're
regulated.
For more information:
Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered
Foods, Jeffrey M. Smith, Yes! Books, 2006, 2007.
"A comparison of the effects of three GM corn varieties on
mammalian health," Séralini et al, International Journal of Biological
Sciences, 2009; 5:706-726
The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, www.cban.ca
Greenpeace, GMO Compass,
Council of Canadians,
***
Stephanie Orford has a BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience from SFU, and is
excited to help change the face of journalism.
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