Three Approved GMOs Linked to Organ Damage

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Three Approved GMOs Linked to Organ Damage

Published on 01-04-2010

By Rady Ananda - BLN Contributing Writer

http://blacklistednews.com/news-6890-0-6-6--.html

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-

Séralini, a molecular biologist at the University of Caen.

Although different levels of adverse impact on vital organs were

noticed between the three GMOs, 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. " 1

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 GMOs, 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.2

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 GMOs 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 GMOs 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, M.

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

1.. 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. [?]

2.. See " How Subchronic and Chronic Health Effects can be Neglected

for GMOs, Pesticides or Chemicals. " IJBS; 2009; 5(5):438-443. [?]

Rady Ananda began blogging in 2004. Her work has appeared in several

online and print publications, including three books on election fraud. Most

of her career was spent working for lawyers in research, investigations and

as a paralegal. She graduated from The Ohio State University's School of

Agriculture with a B.S. in Natural Resources. Read other articles by Rady.