Commentary
FOOD POLITICS
GMOs & Organ Damage
Rady Ananda
DISARMAMENT
Nuke Surge
Darwin BondGraham
FOG WATCH
Rightward Drift
Edward S. Herman
NEW DEADLINE
ZMI 2010
Z Staff
IN MEMORIAM
Howard Zinn
Amy Goodman
Activism
LATIN AMERICA
Movements V. Correa
Roger Burbach
HUMAN RIGHTS
Palestine Crossroad
Stephen Mccloskey
NUKEWATCH
ICBM Protester
John Laforge
Features
LOOKING FORWARD
Participatory Politics
Stephen Shalom
ECONOMIC POLICY
Epic Recession II
Jack Rasmus
HEALTHCARE POLITICS
Pig Fluke?
Niko Kyriakou
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Enemy at Home
Paul Street
MEDIA MATTERS
Comcast-NBCU
David Rosen
IMPERIAL AFFAIRS
Unipolar Moment
Noam Chomsky
SPECIAL REPORT
Haiti Occupation?
Arun Gupta
Culture
BOOK REVIEW
Hagedorn's Gangs
Jeffrey Frank
BOOK REVIEW
Atkins's Bosses
Roger Bybee
Zaps
FREE LISTINGS
Zaps - 03-10
Various Contributors
NOTE: Z Magazine subscribers and sustainers have access to all Z Magazine articles here and in the archive. The latest Z Magazine articles available to everyone are listed in the Free Articles box at the top of the table of contents, and are starred in the list below. Questions? e-mail Z Magazine Online.
Three Approved GMOs Linked to Organ Damage
In what is being described as the most comprehensive study of the effects of genetically modified (GM) 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 U.S., European, and several other national food safety authorities. Made public by European authorities in 2005, the confidential raw data of Monsanto's 2002 feeding trials on rats, which was used to approve GM corn in different parts of the world, is the same data, ironically, that the new team of researchers analyzed.
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 Caen University.
Although different levels of adverse impact on vital organs were noticed between the three GMOs (genetically modified organisms), 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."
In an email, Séralini explained that their study goes beyond Monsanto's analysis by exploring the sex-differentiated health effects on mammals, which Monsanto 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 re-analysis of Monsanto crude statistical data."
When testing for drug or pesticide safety, the standard protocol is to use three mammalian species. The subject studies used only rats, yet won GMO approval in more than a dozen nations. In addition, 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 a rebuttal ("How Subchronic and Chronic Health Effects can be Neglected for GMOs, Pesticides or Chemicals," IJBS, 2009). 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 from all three GMO studies that 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 is of primary import, but ecological effects are also in play, as 99 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 just the threat they pose to humans and other mammals.
Z Magazine Archive
Announcements
Events from Zaps
OCCUPY TOGETHER - Occupy Together is the unofficial hub for the various occupations springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. Over 1,000 cities and towns are currently participating.
Contact: http://www.occupytogether.org/.
LEONARD PELTIER - February 4 is the International Day of Solidarity with Leonard Peltier. The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee calls on supporters worldwide to protest against the injustice suffered by the Indigenous activist.
Contact: http://www.whois leonardpeltier.info/index1.htm.
EVOLUTION - February 10-12 will be the sixth annual celebration of Evolution Weekend, intended to demonstrate that religious people from many faiths and locations understand that evolution is sound science and poses no problems for their faith (affiliated with the Clergy Letters Project repudiating anti-science fundamentalism).
Contact: http://theclergyletter project.org/.
AFRICA - The Priority Africa Network will host the Second Annual Ubuntu Awards’ Dinner, February 11, in
Contact: http://www.priority africa.org/.
FOOD - Registration is open for the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) 33rd annual conference, Sowing the Seeds of Our Food Sovereignty, February 18-19, in
Contact: http://www.oeffa. org/.
JUSTICE - The Justice Conference 2012 will be held February 24-25 in
Contact: http://thejusticecon- ference.com/.
SHUT DOWN - Occupy Portland has called for a Shut Down Corporations Day on February 29—a day of non-violent civil disobedience targeting corporations who are members of ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), one of the most successful mechanisms that the 1% uses to control legislation.
Contact: http://occupyport- land.org/.
ISRAEL/PALESTINE - Israeli Apartheid Week is an annual international series of events held in cities and campuses across the globe. The aim is to educate people about the nature of
Contact: http://apartheidweek. org/en.
WOMEN/AFGHANISTAN - Global Exchange Reality Tours and Afghans4Tomo- row have prepared a program to begin March 1, called
Contact: http://www.globalexchange.org/tours; http://www. afghans4tomorrow.org/.
WOMEN’S STRIKE - March 8 is International Women’s Day and events are planned worldwide. Global Women’s Strike also organizes protest, education, and direct action around this day to redress the ongoing oppression of women who do two-thirds of all the world’s work— most of it without pay or formal benefits and often in slave conditions.
Contact: http://www.global womenstrike.net/; http://www. internationalwomens day.com/about.asp.
OCCUPY/CAPITALISM - The 2012 Left Forum is scheduled for March 16-18 at
Contact: 212-817-2003; panels@leftforum.org; http:// www.leftforum.org.
FOOD NOT BOMBS - Food Not Bombs is currently organizing several projects in communities, including: free food distribution to local people in need; literature tables to provide information about food, peace and justice; hot meals at demonstrations and events; and creative actions in protest of war and poverty. The group invites all to join.
Contact: Food Not Bombs,
LABOR/COMMUNITY - The
Contact: info@thestrategy center.org; http://www.thestrategy center.org/.
PROCESS - No Labels is currently accepting new stakeholders. The group aims to build a network of supporters in every congressional district at the grassroots level.
Contact: backoffice@nolabels. org; http://nolabels.org/front.
PEACE/DEMOCRACY - The Campaign for Peace and Democracy is currently fundraising. The organization does not receive any foundation or government grants.
Contact: cpd@igc.org; http:// www.cpdweb.org/.
MEDIA - Toward Freedom is currently fundraising. The organization organizes public events aimed at raising awareness of and discussions about global issues.
Contact: admin@towardfreedom.com; http://towardfreedom.com/.
PEACE & JUSTICE - S!PAZ is currently fundraising. The group seeks to promote actions that contribute to the process of a non-violent transformation related to the ongoing armed conflict in
Contact: http://razapressasso- ciation.org/.
MEDIA/RAZA - The Raza Press and Media Association (RPMA) has issued its 2012 New Year Messages of Resistance, and is currently seeking new members. The group holds the position that Raza are colonized, indigenous people and that the
Contact: chiapas@sipaz.org; http://www.sipaz.org/fini_eng.htm.
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