Three Approved GMO's Linked to Organ Damage
Friday 08 January 2010
by: Rady Ananda, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
(Photo: InertiaCreeps; Edited: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t)
In what is being described as the first ever and most comprehensive study of the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers have linked organ damage with consumption of Monsanto's GM maize.
All three varieties of GM corn - Mon 810, Mon 863 and NK 603 - were approved for consumption by US, European and several other national food safety authorities. Made public by European authorities in 2005, Monsanto's confidential raw data of its 2002 feeding trials on rats that these researchers analyzed is the same data, ironically, that was used to approve them in different parts of the world.
The Committee of Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN) and Universities of Caen and Rouen studied Monsanto's 90-day feeding trials data of insecticide-producing Mon 810, Mon 863 and Roundup® herbicide absorbing NK 603 varieties of GM maize.
The data "clearly underlines adverse impacts on kidneys and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, as well as different levels of damages to heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system," reported Gilles-Eric Séralini, a molecular biologist at the University of Caen.
Although different levels of adverse impact on vital organs were noticed between the three GMO's, the 2009 research shows specific effects associated with consumption of each GMO, differentiated by sex and dose.
Their December 2009 study appears in the International Journal of Biological Sciences (IJBS). This latest study conforms with a 2007 analysis by CRIIGEN on Mon 863, published in Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, using the same data.
Monsanto rejected the 2007 conclusions, stating:
"The analyses conducted by these authors are not consistent with what has been traditionally accepted for use by regulatory toxicologists for analysis of rat toxicology data."
[Also see Doull J, Gaylor D, Greim HA, et al. "Report of an expert panel on the reanalysis by Séralini et al. (2007) of a 90-day study conducted by Monsanto in support of the safety of a genetically modified corn variety (MON 863)." Food Chem Toxicol. 2007; 45:2073-2085.]
In an email to me, Séralini explained that their study goes beyond Monsanto's analysis by exploring the sex-differentiated health effects on mammals, which Doull, et al, ignored:
"Our study contradicts Monsanto conclusions because Monsanto systematically neglects significant health effects in mammals that are different in males and females eating GMO's, or not proportional to the dose. This is a very serious mistake, dramatic for public health. This is the major conclusion revealed by our work, the only careful reanalysis of Monsanto crude statistical data."
Other Problems With Monsanto's Conclusions
When testing for drug or pesticide safety, the standard protocol is to use three mammalian species. The subject studies only used rats, yet won GMO approval in more than a dozen nations.
Chronic problems are rarely discovered in 90 days; most often such tests run for up to two years. Tests "lasting longer than three months give more chances to reveal metabolic, nervous, immune, hormonal or cancer diseases," wrote Seralini, et al, in their Doull rebuttal. [See "How Subchronic and Chronic Health Effects Can Be Neglected for GMO's, Pesticides or Chemicals." IJBS; 2009; 5(5):438-443.]
Further, Monsanto's analysis compared unrelated feeding groups, muddying the results. The June 2009 rebuttal explains, "In order to isolate the effect of the GM transformation process from other variables, it is only valid to compare the GMO … with its isogenic non-GM equivalent."
The researchers conclude that the raw data from all three GMO studies reveal novel pesticide residues will be present in food and feed and may pose grave health risks to those consuming them.
They have called for "an immediate ban on the import and cultivation of these GMO's and strongly recommend additional long-term (up to two years) and multi-generational animal feeding studies on at least three species to provide true scientifically valid data on the acute and chronic toxic effects of GM crops, feed and foods."
Human health, of course, is of primary import to us, but ecological effects are also in play. Ninety-nine percent of GMO crops either tolerate or produce insecticide. This may be the reason we see bee colony collapse disorder and massive butterfly deaths. If GMO's are wiping out Earth's pollinators, they are far more disastrous than the threat they pose to humans and other mammals.
Further Reading:
Health Risks of GM Foods, Jeffrey M. Smith.
Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops, Union of Concerned Scientists.
Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years, The Organic Center.
This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Comments
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The road to hell is paved
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 17:49 — Anonymous (not verified)The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
GENETICALLY ALTERING foods
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 18:04 — Liberal Ray (not verified)GENETICALLY ALTERING foods are CHEMICAL based processes. The PETROCHEMICAL industry has been giving the American people increased opportunity for cancer with processed foods since WWII. Meantime, the FDA has fooled the American people into thinking they still protect the American people's food interest as they did under FDR when they are now pawns of the PETROCHEMICAL industry.
And embossed with apathy.
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 18:05 — Anonymous (not verified)And embossed with apathy.
I detect no good intentions
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 18:09 — Matt Silliman (not verified)I detect no good intentions at all in the agricultural industry's pursuit of GMOs, though they sometimes try to promote their products as helping to nourish the poor. These technologies are designed to privatize ownership of seed stock so as to generate profits, not support a sustainable food supply.
Folks, this is not a
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 18:47 — Lisa Clark (not verified)Folks, this is not a surprise. What did you THINK was going to happen if we coerced plants to produce pesticides and then ate the stuff? And let other critters eat the stuff accidentally or on purpose? Same thing as if you went to home depot, bought a bag of pesticide and shoveled it into your mouth. Makes you very sick, yes indeed, seeing as we are biological organisms too, same as the bugs. And yes, it is a huge ecological disaster.
Check out the documentary
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 19:27 — Ravenna (not verified)Check out the documentary film "King Corn" then be even more aware of the poison that is being pumped into all of us through ubiquitous corn products and byproducts.
And poster #1. There were no good intentions in creating GMO corn. Just the love of money.
I love corn products:
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 19:37 — Anonymous (not verified)I love corn products: chips, cornbread, tortillas, Fritos...plus corn syrup makes things taste pretty good, too.
In 2000 I was diagnosed with a lymphatic disorder that necessitated removal of my spleen. Seemingly healthy for the next 6 years, in '06 I was diagnosed with a rare lymphatic lung disease. Two years later this lymphatic disease spread to my gall bladder and liver. I had my gall gladder removed. Now, I have cirrhosis of the liver and I don't drink. My lymphocytes are haywire. So, I now have no spleen, no gall bladder, scarred lungs and a screwed up liver. I wonder if there's any connection?
This is scary stuff.
No surprise!
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 19:56 — Anonymous (not verified)No surprise!
,,,As a child I read stories
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 20:03 — pam (not verified),,,As a child I read stories about mad scientists who, in the end got their comme-uppance.
It was great!
I was A child who was happy about the bad guy getting his due...his due being degradation and punishment...
Who in hell will give Monsanto and their hilk what they deserve...certainly not our sleazy government people..bought and paid for by the very same Dow's, Monsanto's, Exxon's, Chevron's etc......good luck to us all pam
Watch the documentary,
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 20:41 — Howard (not verified)Watch the documentary, "Food, Inc."--it's final long segment documents Monsanto's corruption of our federal government's legislative system, ruthless suppression of any farmer's resisting the use off Monsanto's patented seeds, corn, soybeans, its infiltration into high government positions, e.g., Clarence Thomas had been a Monsanto Lawyer. Please, check out the movie and be further informed.
They say that good
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 21:35 — Anonymous (not verified)They say that good intentions
Paved the road to hell.
If something's not worth doing.
It's not worth doing well. R.D. Laing
But it might bring you a sizable profit....
…time to destroy the GM
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 22:21 — Anonymous (not verified)…time to destroy the GM crops right in the fields…
...Thank you Howard at
Fri, 01/08/2010 - 23:32 — Anonymous pam (not verified)...Thank you Howard at 1:41..
Will watch" Food,Inc"... Also tell my friends about
the docu...even my enemies...!
pam
For your own health quit
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 01:55 — Anonarcmous (not verified)For your own health quit eating all corn products unless guaranteed organic--some may remember that cornflakes used to NOT taste soapy. Nicotine--the dangerous chemical in tobacco BECAUSE IT IS A PESTICIDE. Eating or ingesting pestidices = homicide.
Monsanto...makers of Agent
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 09:30 — Rodrian Roadeye (not verified)Monsanto...makers of Agent Orange and other fine poisons...bringing good things to your corn. Sounds a little corny doesn't it? What an ad promo!
Monsanto has deflected their
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 10:01 — Not buying it! (not verified)Monsanto has deflected their responsibility for past damages, like agent orange, PCBs, etc., with the help of state and federal agencies for decades. Now they want to "save" the world with their frankenfoods!
No thanks. In fact, I think we should ban Monsanto.
FYI - they just picked up a "Best Corporation" award in their home town Monsantoville, I mean St. Louis. Help get me out of here!
There were no monarch
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 10:59 — Anonymous (not verified)There were no monarch butterflies around my southern New Hampshire home this past summer...how sad and frightening.
I've never heard of the
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 13:26 — Anonymous (not verified)I've never heard of the International Journal of Biological Sciences -- if the authors had such a major paper, why didn't they take it to Nature, Science, etc.? Or any one of the second-tier publications?
Its scary out there.
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 16:42 — Anonymous (not verified)Its scary out there. Government is out to get us,
and the food industry is in with them, money under the table I bet. How did our country get
to this? America is not a free place, no matter
who says it is. We pay with our lives ,or pocket
books. Sad Sad ,I bet God is wondering why we
all destroyed this earth this way. As bad as
Sodam and Gorrmath.
From my reading of the
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 19:32 — PJL (not verified)From my reading of the abstract of the report, they are suggesting that it is (probably) the pesticide paired with the GMO and not the GMO itself that is causing the toxicity noted.
We have plenty of past
Sun, 01/10/2010 - 00:12 — Mel Smith (not verified)We have plenty of past Monsanto Employees working for the US gov. And they seem to always be loyal to that Genocidal Corporation.
- - - - - - - - - - - ----------
To be safe, you have to read labels and never put a package in your shopping cart unless it says ORGANIC
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --
Always look for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and MSG, and Aspartame, And Trans Fats, as Partially Hydrogenated Veg. oil.
Most Yellow corn is GM, 90% of Soy is GM, but then again Soy is not intended to be eaten by humans, unless it is Fermented.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -----------
Monsanto is trying to GE wheat and Barley, so far they don't have a license yet. Thank God.
- - - - - - - - - - - ------------
To really find out all the sh*t about Monsanto.
Go to my blog and watch the movie "The World According To Monsanto" It is on the right in "PAGES"
http://www.my-healthy.info/4u
- - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------
Get a few of your friends and watch it together, you'll love it.Or just send them there to watch it.
@PJL: You are right. And
Sun, 01/10/2010 - 04:28 — Sebastian (not verified)@PJL:
You are right. And this study looks like being flawed as some other Pro-GMO study might be. Supported by Greenpeace, these researchers were pre-determined to prove something they were fond of instead of being open for any results...
Everything about food is a
Sun, 01/10/2010 - 12:25 — joedee1969 (not verified)Everything about food is a lie:
http://americaspeaksink.com/2009/08/revealed-organic-food-a-scam/
The author of this article
Sun, 01/10/2010 - 12:52 — Mark Dworkin (not verified)The author of this article has some important facts wrong which can play into the hands of Monsanto which always claims its critics are uninformed and unscientific. I pointed this out when the article first appeared, and yet my comment never showed up on line, even though I praised it overall. The author responded to me in an e-mail and then amended the article to correct it, though her correction is still wrong. It is absolutely wrong to claim that 99% of GMO foods contain or tolerate an insecticide. This is glaringly false. As I pointed out before, there are 2 broad classes of GM foods - those that contain BT a naturally occurring insecticide, and those that tolerate an herbicide [usually Monsanto's Roundup]. An insecticide kills insects, an herbicide kills herbs [plants]. Any farmer or gardener knows this. And the land area planted to herbicide resistant crops is probably greater than the land area planted to crops containing the BT insecticide, because so much land is planted with Roundup Ready soy. The research in this article is about the dangers of eating certain GM foods those that contain BT, an insecticide. There is a lot wrong with all GM crops, and people should not eat them. But in helping people understand the dangers of these corporate promoted GM crops we need to keep our facts straight, and when comments are posted that are critical, we need to have the honesty to post them on-line.
Where is the causative
Sun, 01/10/2010 - 13:33 — Party Cactus (not verified)Where is the causative agent? Every effect must be caused by something. White willow does not numb pain because it is willow bark, it does so because it contains salicin. Foxglove does not help heart conditions because it is foxglove, it does so because it contains digitoxin. Cannabis does not cause intoxication because it is cannabis , it does so because it contains THC. What causes organisms genetically modified by human (as opposed to plants and animals such as humans and corn which have accumulated varied mutations as well as foreign DNA throughout the eons by way of viruses) to have these alleged effects? To claim that they just do because they're GE makes no sense whatsoever. It is a simple question with a simple answer, one that shouldn't be that hard to find, and until someone gives me a clear and definitive answer, I for one dismiss this sort of thing as the ignorant politicized fear mongering that has always surrounded genetically altered crops.
As for all the 'genetic engineers are evil' comments above, come on. They're just people, and they're doing what they can to help, and contrary to popular opinion, they are helping. Unlike groups who can't seem to mention GMOs without a spooky/creepy little picture of a shadowy skull in an attempt to turn what should be a rational issue based on fact into an emotional one based on fear.
Read this: http://jplovescotton.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/middleground/
why are they making it
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 13:54 — Anonymous (not verified)why are they making it sound so complicated? And is organic always organic?
Is organic always organic?
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 13:55 — Anonymous (not verified)Is organic always organic?
Why would anyone want to eat
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 17:25 — Anonymous (not verified)Why would anyone want to eat something that requires extensive scientific testing on other species to determine whether it's safe? If there's a question, then it clearly isn't food...
The creator and majority
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 21:50 — Chuck Palazzo (not verified)The creator and majority contractor for the US Government for Agent Orange - now taking those profits (while people affected and their offspring continue to die), has the audacity to funnel those profits to genetic engineering?
It makes me very sad that people continue to die, and children continue to be born with afflictions that will remain for the rest of their lives. Shareholders, employees and especially the executives involved with Monsanto are certainly partnering with the devil called Monsanto. This has to end. And Forbes is right up there close to the top for naming Monsanto their Company of the Year.
It is being proved to us
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 08:02 — Anonymous (not verified)It is being proved to us time and time again that it is not nice to mess with Mother Nature. We sure are slow learners.
I am the widow of a Vietnam
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 18:17 — Sharon L. Perry (not verified)I am the widow of a Vietnam veteran & founder of Agent Orange Legacy. Monsanto produced more agent orange during the Vietnam/American war than any of the other 36+ chemical companies.
Even though agent orange or TCDD was banned Monsanto has gone on to produce more & more harmful products. The class action suit brought against the chemical companies by Vietnam veterans didn't pay a nickel to my husband or many other veterans.
My husband didn't become ill until 1998 and all the money was gone by 1994. Monsanto & the other chemical companies have, managed once again, to have gotten away with out paying Vietnam veterans and their families last year, 2009. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the chemical companies.
Not only have Vietnam veterans not been compensated, neither have many other agent orange victims including the Vietnamese or the children of Vietnam veterans.
I hope that someday they will be held accountable for the harmful products they continue to produce but until then I will 'Speak Out' against them and other chemical companies like them.
If you are the child of a Vietnam veteran and feel that your are ill as a result of your parent(s) service in Vietnam join us: http://www.agentorangelegacy.ning.com. Learn more about our 'Lobbying Campaign' http://www.agentorangelegacy.us
Sincerely,
Sharon L. Perry
Founder
Agent Orange Legacy
Children of American Vietnam Veterans
aolegacy@gmail.com
Just because a plant's
Tue, 01/19/2010 - 14:29 — Anonymous (not verified)Just because a plant's genetics are changed does not mean it will change or harm people. Do you not get vaccines against the flu? A tetanus shot? Mandatory vaccines to attend a university? Does the vaccine alter your genes? Where are the facts in this article? It talks about a study and some conclusions on mice but leaves the reader uneducated as to what actually happened through out the study and what GMO's really are. Bt corn (a GMO) is injected with a natural fungus(like a vaccine), bacillus thurengensis, which is found in soil all over the world. By introducing it to corn, it prevents a lot of plant damage caused by the corn borer. For every field of Bt corn, at least 30% is non Bt. This is called a refuge for insects, allowing them to reproduce and preventing them from evolving to adjust to the Bt corn (the monarch butterflies).By having GMOs, our nation can feed itself and other nations, and affordably at that. There is no other way in the world one would see yields high enough to feed our country and others. Organic production may be good for some people who believe in its benefits, however, with its production rates, you will be taking the agricultural systems back 50 years or more and the cost/abundance of food in our country and others will be devastating. All organic food has the exact same nutritional value as non organic food as well. Organic simply refers to the production methods.
If all these trails were done on mice and show that it harms their organs, does one every think that maybe a strict diet of corn might be harmful to the rodent anyway? Further, herbicides and other chemicals used in cropping systems are all relatively new practices and there are bound to be mistakes and hiccups. One would have to drink 82 bathtubs full of water with TCDD at 1 part/billion to be even slightly effected by it. It is a slow process to perfection, but advances like GMO's are immeasurable to everyone in the world. If you don't like it, don't go out to eat, don't go to a fast food place, don't buy anything that is not 100% organic or else you will be eating a GMO. Get the facts and get educated.
I recently came accross your
Fri, 01/22/2010 - 03:14 — Anonymous (not verified)I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Maria
http://smallpet.info
Organic yields are proving
Mon, 01/25/2010 - 19:53 — Anonymous (not verified)Organic yields are proving to be higher than conventional. See the research at the well-respected Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. GMOs are a (bad) solution hunting for a problem. We don't need them; we do need biodiverse small farms producing nutrient rich food.