A missing link?

[Guest guest]

I found this article while looking up bag worms. The bacillius thuringiensis

bacteria is used by Monsanto on crops. It produces crystals..........and they

dont' know enough, really, about its safety to be using it. Bag worms provide a

refuge for ticks and mites. Please read the following exerts. Very

enlightening. The link to the entire article is as follows:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis

During sporulation, many Bt strains produce crystal proteins (proteinaceous

inclusions), called ä-endotoxins, that have insecticidal action. This has led to

their use as insecticides, and more recently to genetically modified crops using

Bt genes. There are, however, many crystal-producing Bt strains that do not have

insecticidal properties.[2]

There is clear evidence from laboratory settings that Bt toxins can affect

nontarget organisms. Usually, but not always, affected organisms are closely

related to intended targets.[25] Typically, exposure occurs through the

consumption of plant parts, such as pollen or plant debris, or through Bt

ingestion by their predatory food choices. The methodology used by these

researchers has been called into question.[26] Due to significant data gaps, the

real-world consequences of Bt transgenics remains unclear.

Not all scientific reports on Bt safety have been positive. A 2007 study funded

by the European arm of Greenpeace, suggested the possibility of a slight but

statistically meaningful risk of liver damage in rats.[27] While small

statistically significant changes may have been observed, statistical

differences are both probable and predictable in animal studies of this

kind,(known as type I errors), that is, the probability of finding a

false-positive due to chance alone. In this case, the number of positive results

was within the statistically predicted range for type I errors.[citation needed]