Rats fed genetically engineered Calgene Flavr-Savr tomatoes (developed to look fresh for weeks) for 28 days got bleeding stomachs (stomach lesions) and seven died and were replaced in the study.
Rats fed Monsanto 863 Bt corn for 90 days developed multiple reactions typically found in response to allergies, infections, toxins, diseases like cancer, anemia and blood pressure problems. Their blood cells, livers and kidneys showed significant changes indicative of disease.
Mice fed either GM potatoes engineered to produce Bt- toxin or natural potatoes containing the toxin had intestinal damage. Both varieties created abnormal and excessive cell growth in the lower intestine. The equivalent human damage might cause incontinence or flu-like symptoms and could be pre-cancerous. The study disproved the contention that digestion destroys Bt-toxin and is not biologically active in mammals.
Workers in India handling Bt cotton while picking, loading, weighing and separating the fiber from seeds developed allergies. They began with "mild to severe itching," then redness and swelling, followed by skin eruptions. These symptoms affected their skin, eyes (got red and swollen with excessive tearing) and upper respiratory tract causing nasal discharge and sneezing. In some cases, hospitalization was required. At one cotton gin factory, workers take antihistamines daily.
Sheep grazing on Bt cotton developed "unusual systems" before dying "mysteriously." Reports from four Indian villages revealed 25% of them died within a week. Post mortems indicated a toxic reaction. The study raises questions about cottonseed oil safety and human health for people who eat meat from animals fed GM cotton. It's crucial to understand that what animals eat, so do people.
Nearly all 100 Filipinos living adjacent to a Bt corn field became ill. Their symptoms appeared when the crop was producing airborne pollen and was apparently inhaled. Doing it produced headaches, dizziness, extreme stomach pain, vomiting, chest pains, fever, and allergies plus respiratory, intestinal and skin reactions. Blood tests conducted on 39 victims showed an antibody response to Bt-toxin suggesting it was the cause. Four other villages experienced the same problems that also resulted in several animal deaths.
Iowa farmers reported a conception rate drop of from 80% to 20% among sows (female pigs) fed GM corn. Most animals also had false pregnancies, some delivered bags of water and others stopped menstruating. Male pigs were also affected as well as cows and bulls. They became sterile and all were fed GM corn.
German farmer Gottfried Glockner grew GM corn and fed it to his cows. Twelve subsequently died from the Bt 176 variety, and other cows had to be destroyed due to a "mysterious" illness. The corn plots were field trials for Ag biotech giant Syngenta that later took the product off the market with no admission of fault.
Mice fed Monsanto Roundup Ready soybeans developed significant liver cell changes indicating a dramatic general metabolism increase. Symptoms included irregularly shaped nuclei and nucleoli, and an increased number of nuclear pores and other changes. It's thought this resulted from exposure to a toxin, and most symptoms disappeared when Roundup Ready was removed from the diet.
Mice fed Roundup Ready had pancreas problems, heavier livers and unexplained testicular cell changes. The Monsanto product also produced cell metabolism changes in rabbit organs, and most offspring of rats on this diet died within three weeks.
The death rate for chickens fed GM Liberty Link corn for 42 days doubled. They also experienced less weight gain, and their food intake was erratic.
In the mid-1990s, Australian scientists discovered that GM peas generated an allergic-type inflammatory response in mice in contrast to the natural protein that had no adverse effect. Commercialization of the product was cancelled because of fear humans might have the same reaction.
When given a choice, animals avoid GM foods. This was learned by observing a flock of geese that annually visit an Illinois pond and feed on soybeans from an adjacent farm. After half the acreage had GM crops, the geese ate only from the non-GMO side. Another observation showed 40 deer ate organic soybeans from one field but shunned the GMO kind across the road. The same thing happened with GM corn.
Inserting foreign or transgenes is called insertional mutagenesis or insertion mutation. When done, it usually disrupts DNA at the insertion site and affects gene functioning overall by scrambling, deleting or relocating the genetic code near the insertion site.
The process of creating a GM plant requires scientists first to isolate and grow plant cells in the laboratory using a tissue culture process. The problem is when it's done it can create hundreds or thousands of DNA mutations throughout the genome. Changing a single base pair may be harmful. However, widespread genome changes compound the potential problem manyfold.
Promoters are used in GM crops as switches to turn on the foreign gene. When done, the process may accidently switch on other natural plant genes permanently. The result may be to overproduce an allergen, toxin, carcinogen, antinutrient, enzymes that stimulate or inhibit hormone production, RNA that silences genes, or changes that affect fetal development. They may also produce regulators that block other genes and/or switch on a dormant virus that may cause great harm. In addition, evidence suggests the promoter may create genetic instability and mutations that can result in the breakup and recombination of the gene sequence.
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
We have a real problem. Where to even begin to tell the public at large about the dangers of GMO foods, when they are already so widespread, also here in Australia; and when the normal channels of public information will not discuss the issue. In Australia there was a moratorium on GMO foods. That moratorium is coming to an end and agribusiness will be free to plant the poison everywhere. We've recently had a few Canadians out here who said that in a few short years GMO organisms have started to pollute food production everywhere in Canada.
I personally have recently had a revolution in my eating habits and am becoming fanatical about eating only organically grown food. The biggest chain of food supermarkets here in Australia call themselves the "Fresh Food People". That description is everywhere in their stores and in their advertising. I eat a freshly picked, organically grown apple. I compare it to an apple bought at the supermarket, produced with chemicals, stored in a refrigerator for weeks, waxed and polished to make it look good. You feel like spitting it out, such a difference in taste. Someone wrote recently that we have "lost our minds". Yes, we have, but in another sense it would be more accurate to say that modern man now only has their minds - not the mind of reason, the higher mind, but the lowest part of the mind, the labelling, “either-or” mind, which is susceptible to slogans and advertising. Modern man has lost touch with their feeling and their instincts, and what one wise man called the "instinctive sensing of reality". So, at the supermarket they buy, and then go home to eat, "fresh food", from the "fresh food people". As you point out, animals will instinctively avoid food that isn't good for them, such as genetically modified food.
By the way, is it true that Monsanto is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, the Japanese motorcar company?
Sydney, Australia
by
Robert Hoogenboom (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 163 comments)
on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 3:32:27 PM
I have never heard of any connection between Monsanto and Mitsubishi, although I would never rule out a joint venture. The clique (zaibatsu) called Mitsubishi is one of Japan's oldest commercial enterprises and holds a notorious position in history textbooks for its support of the fascist regime that took Japan into World War II. It survived the Occupation and reformation and today is a conglomerate offering everything from cars to banking services. I don't know the history of Monsanto. My impression is that it was originally totally American. If Monsanto has a tie-up, I would expect it to be with Ajinomoto, who specialize in food additives. They gave us MSG and are licensed to produce aspartame. It is usually Ajinomoto that I hear about quashing the efforts of activists to have the latter product banned.
by
Patricia 0rmsby (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 110 comments)
on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 8:39:45 PM
