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Monsanto’s GM corn MON863 shows kidney, liver toxicity in animal studies — Even though this link is actually a few months old, the story is apparently completely suppressed by the mainstream media which should be all over it.
A variety of genetically modified corn that was approved for human consumption in 2006 caused signs of liver and kidney toxicity as well as hormonal changes in rats in a study performed by researchers from the independent Committee for Independent Research and Genetic Engineering at the University of Caen in France.
• The corn in question, MON863, is made by the Monsanto Company and approved for use in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States. It has had a gene inserted from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which causes the plant’s cells to produce a pesticide.
• Researchers fed rats either unmodified corn or diets containing 11 or 30 percent MON863 for 90 days. The rats who ate modified corn were found to exhibit signs of liver and kidney toxicity, as well as signs of hormonal changes.
• Male rats lost an average of 3.3 percent of their body weight, and their excretion of phosphorus and sodium decreased. Female rats gained an average of 3.7 percent of their body weight, while their triglyceride levels increased by 24 to 40 percent.
• The mechanism that causes the toxicity is not yet known, but the researchers say there is evidence that the Bt toxin may cause the perforation of blood cells.
Wait, let me check the logic. The corn naturally produces a pesticide and we wonder why it causes problems when ingested? Oh brother. And you can be sure the genes are in the wild now via natural pollination. The kinds of lawsuits — worldwide — that will be coming out of some of these Frankenfood developments are going to be awesome.
You say: “The corn naturally produces a pesticide”==isn’t the whole point that the corn produced pesticide is UNNATURAL?
But whether natural or not, I thought “levels of residue pesticide” were controlled? I’ll bet Monsanto got that requirement removed as well?
That said, why no–its not surprising at all that putting pesticides in our food would cause us harm but isn’t the real question whether or not Monsanto will continue to get government subsidies while the health code is ignored?
Of course the MSM isn’t reporting it. This is the kind of story that could lose them all their corporate sponsors.
I guess no one learned a thing from the whole killer bee fiasco. Killer Korn!!! Woohoo!!!
“Male rats lost an average of 3.3 percent of their body weight”
“Female rats gained an average of 3.7 percent of their body weight”
What’s with females and getting fat? 😉
Monsanto is up to all types of wonderful things…
Check out this video of how they are trying to patent the pig… and other dirty underhanded tricks!
http://tinyurl.com/5greff
Its 42 minutes… but an interesting watch…
Um … that site sells healthy food information and books for $89 and the company that owns the site is called “Truth Publishing”.
Red flag on the objectivity.
It’s a French survey on American GM crops. Did anyone expect an unbiased, objective outcome? And, by the way, lovely photo of some guy catching dinner.
Heres another interesting one on Monsanto.
http://tinyurl.com/6q7dy7
This on is called Fox news kills monsanto milk story.
Those snooty French have always looked down their noses at corn. They say it’s for pigs, and apparently now for rats. GM crops are like lit firecrackers waiting to go off up investor’s butts.
#8 – Raff
Very interesting video. It clearly shows the relationship between the media corporations and their corporate sponsors.
This sounds like another one of the endless
sensational scare stories;for the uninformed,
all fruits and vegetables have natural
pesticides, i.e. the plants naturally have this
mechanism to help fight what is trying to destroy them.However whenever people hear the word pesiticide,they tend to have a knee-jerk reaction.
If it wasn’t for the U.S. agriculture (big ag);
more people would starve,and fewer people would live to bitch about pesticides.
Don’t F with nature, nature always fights back and always wins.
A testament to human arrogance, genetically modified food.
I have no fondness for Frankenfoods or Monsanto … but as someone trained as a scientist, I am concerned there is no link in the original article to the scientific study.
#13–Lewis, as a scientist, you could learn to google or have a grad student do it for you?
http://tinyurl.com/5e2eqv
#11
Agreed, normal corn for example if it gets stress from lack of water it begins to produce toxins capable of damaging the liver.
#9
And they think morbidly obese goose liver & turd shape, pussy smelling, dirt tasting truffle mushroom a delicacy.
Does this mean the ethanol from this corn CAN’T be drunk? Now I HAVE TO use it as a fuel. Geez.
The whole dream of vodka for just $4.50 a gallon has just gone out the window. Or has it? How much would I have to drink to get that cirrhosis before the BT explodes my blood corpuscles? Rule of thumb?
If this is correct and I’d need a couple of studies to be sure then monsanto is most likely doomed.
The reason I have my doubts is that studies like this are already supposed to have occured by the hundreds with no such results reported.
#5,8 Raff – Thanks for the Monsanto “Patent For a Pig” and “Fox News Kills Monsanto Milk Story” links.
So much for the “fair and balanced” independence of the Fourth Estate — it’s scary to see greedy corporations in control of what’s in your food and what you’re allowed to see on TV.
Gene splicing is going to get us in to worse trouble than this someday. I read an article a few years ago about men in biohazard suits burning fields of corn spliced with HIV dna. It didn’t quite go as planned. It also started to cross pollinate with neighboring fields. Oops. Check it out…
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2161-edible-hiv-vaccine-breakthrough.html
“The kinds of lawsuits — worldwide — that will be coming out of some of these Frankenfood developments are going to be awesome.”
Somehow I doubt it — Congress in its infinite mercy to its corporate future employers will find a way to hide an amnesty in a health bill or some such. I’d bet a nickel on it…
Monsanto, yeah you remember, the guys that had the exclusive on PCB production for 40 years and did everything they could to protect it’s use even after it’s toxicity was well established. It’s the money, boys and girls. Long as the dollar sign is god to these people they could care less how many people die as a tribute to their greed.
But the company scientists say it is ok for us to consume. And the lobbyists tell the peeps in Congress the same while handing over big checks to get them re-elected. And they in turn put pressure on the FDA to speed-up the whole apporval process. (This is why lobbyists are REALLY BAD)
And the few that asked questions about the safety of such crops were made out to be ignorant psychos. I remeber one of those “scientists” saying something about GM crops being nothing more than what we have been doing for thousands of years with cross breeding. And corn is in a good portion of the processed foods we consume, so it should only be a short time before we have 7 year old kids with kidney and liver problems if we allow this to keep going.
The PDF link provided by “bobbo” is a press release, NOT a peer reviewed paper. This PR has no scientific merit. The website this blog piece refers to has an axe to grind. The BT toxin is a protein that has been tested extensively. This entire post smells like BS to this cranky old guy. I like Dvorak, but this is nonsense.
I left this alone overnight – and I’m pleasantly surprised to see a few people did what John didn’t. Google around for sources.
Work at it a little longer and you’ll learn the “source” is 3 guys at a French university who only “represent” an anti-GM organization. They did absolutely NO testing or research.
They used their own premises to rework information provided from Monsanto’s studies – accepted by researchers to justify permission to sell the seed stock. That doesn’t mean there’s no gov’t corruption. But, non-science doesn’t counter Establishment science.
The US source is probably a handout at the local Whole Foods. I eat a growing proportion of Organic – according to what I can afford – but, the last thing I’ll rely on is the handouts at the Whole Foods where I do about 30% of my grocery shopping. About as far from essential science as you can get – this side of Fox Snooze.
Pesticide component in the grain = 1kg per hectare. That doesn’t even come up to mouse turds on any farm.
Cross-pollination? Might be a fear unless you already know the prime criticism made of Monsanto and their patented GM seed stock is that it’s sterile and must be repurchased for every crop.
Google and read. Google and read. Google and read. Try to work your way down to primary or secondary sources.
The reoccurring word in all these comments is “lawsuit” .. Whatever happened to baseball bats and rioting crowds. .. Bunch of damn wimps with lawyers now.
I like Fankenfood. I’ve been eating Frankenberry cereal for years and there ain’t nuttin wrong with me.
The risks of GM foods is documented. The obvious need for caution and further study before implementation ignored. We’re told it’s to feed the hungry or fuel our cars, but Monsanto is a MEGA corporation, not a charitable institution, their sole motivation is profit. Globolization of agricultural interests may seem like a good idea from a business standpoint. But do you really want your health to depend on some greedy bastard’s bottom line?
amodedoma, the purpose of this product is to prevent the spraying of pesticides. This way it actually only ends up where it is needed.
As someone noted most foods are toxic or contain toxic parts. When a plant is stressed it tends to make more toxins.
There are risks connected to the new crops but there are risks and lower food productions with the old crops. Some of the new stuff is less nutritious and some of it doesn’t tast as good.
Eat what you want and can afford but I can’t grow tomatoes that aren’t reorganized to resist the local pests. I can plant them but they die.
This report and story are well over a year old at this point. It didn’t receive much mainstream media coverage because the claims made were based on faulty science and were easily debunked. You can read Monsanto’s response to the publication of these claims at http://www.monsanto.com/pdf/products/yieldgard_rw_response.pdf (warning, very technical)
http://www.monsanto.com/products/techandsafety/safetysummaries/yieldgard_corn_supplement.asp
In a nutshell, as noted above in comment #25, the source of this report used the existing data from the studies that were performed in the course of the regulatory approval process for the EU. The claims made by this group were arrived at by reviewing the existing data using a flawed statistical method. At the conclusion of the original study, EU authorities agreed that MON 863 maize is safe for human and animal health and the environment.
In regards to the differences noted in the rats, five independent experts have reviewed the data and confirmed that MON 863 maize does not adversely affect the health of rats.
• Two independent, board certified, animal pathologists, one a world-recognized expert on rat kidney pathology, concluded there was no evidence that MON 863 induced changes in the rat kidney, that the findings observed occur commonly in rats, and that similar findings were found in rats fed conventional maize grain; consequently, the findings were not caused by feeding of MON 863 grain.
• M. Parodi, President of the French Association of Anatomo-Histopathology, reviewed the opinion of the two veterinary pathologists and agreed with their opinion – that the differences observed were not related to feeding on MON 863 maize.
• Two other independent animal pathologists reviewed the toxicological data and confirmed that all observed values were within the normal range of variation for rat toxicological studies.
Interesting, Monsanto does a study and the results are obviously flawed. A group that opposes Monsanto does a study and the results are obviously correct and unbiased.
No sauce for the gander in this group!