gmo notes

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Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish.

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Moreover, studies confirm that even the less toxic natural spray can be harmful.

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The plant cells that have taken up the inserted gene are then grown in a lab using tissue culture and/or nutrient medium that allows them to develop into plants that are used to grow GM food crops.

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The specific nature of this viral gene, called Gene VI, allows it to switch on multiple genes downstream along the genome.

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The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.

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There is causation as defined by Hill's Criteria in the areas of strength of association, consistency, specificity, biological gradient, and biological plausibility.

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There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects.

Whitman, Deborah B. "Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?" Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful? N.p., Apr. 2000. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

Unintended harm to other organisms Last year a laboratory study was published in Nature21 showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars.

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Furthermore, only the green parts of rice plants (not the grain) contain the vital precursor of vitamin A (beta-carotene).

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GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce a built-in pesticide called Bt-toxin—produced from soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis.

Smith, Jeffery. "Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food." Mercola.com. N.p., 25 Mar. 2010. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

GM foods are particularly dangerous for pregnant moms and children.

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GM-fed babies were smaller, and possibly infertile.

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Gene transfer to non-target species Another concern is that crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds.

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Allergenicity Many children in the US and Europe have developed life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods.

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Also, because of the mounting data, it is biologically plausible for Genetically Modified Foods to cause adverse health effects in humans.

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And because it is randomly inserted, each of the 54 varieties of GMOs that contain Gene VI carries their own unique and special danger.

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And because viral proteins can also be toxic to cell functions, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in your diet might also promote cancer and other diseases.

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And that would be bad. Viral proteins are well known to suppress defenses against viral infection—for both plant and humans.

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And this addition might be causing a health catastrophe.

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Conventional rice grains contain a substance (phytic acid) that can prevent the human digestive system from absorbing iron.

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Crops too can be more susceptible to both viral and bacterial diseases. But it doesn't stop there.

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Mice fed GM soy also had altered young sperm.

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Currently, there is no agreement about the results of these studies, and the potential risk of harm to non-target organisms will need to be evaluated further.

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About two dozen US farmers said thousands of pigs became sterile from certain GM corn varieties.

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According to UNICEF over 2 billion people suffer from iron deficiency.

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A recent 2008 study links GM corn with infertility, showing a significant decrease in offspring over time and significantly lower litter weight in mice fed GM corn.

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According to Virologist Jonathan Latham, "GMO regulators around the world have been complacent and incompetent."

"20 Questions on Genetically Modified Foods." WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. Dean, Amy, and Jennifer Armstrong. "Genetically Modified Foods." Position Paper:: The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM). N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

According to the World Health Organization, Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are "organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in such a way that does not occur naturally.

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After GM soy was fed to female rats, most of their babies died—compared to 10 percent deaths among controls fed natural soy.

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All this depends on whether Gene VI is, in fact, active. And that remains the question. In the recently published analysis by European authorities, they came to a definite maybe.

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Animal studies also show altered structure and function of the liver, including altered lipid and carbohydrate metabolism as well as cellular changes that could lead to accelerated aging and possibly lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

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Both the location of the transferred gene sequence in the corn DNA and the consequences of the insertion differ with each insertion.

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Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-biotech companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment

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But in reality, no one in the world is monitoring the health impacts of these high-risk foods on human health.

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But the actual strand of inserted DNA turns out to have much more genetic material than it was supposed to have.

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Changes in the kidney, pancreas and spleen have also been documented.

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Despite these differences, safety assessment of GM foods has been based on the idea of "substantial equivalence" such that "if a new food is found to be substantially equivalent in composition and nutritional characteristics to an existing food, it can be regarded as safe as the conventional food."

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Embryos of GM soy-fed parent mice had changed DNA.6 And mice fed GM corn had fewer, and smaller, babies

"More Iron and Vitamin A from GM Rice." (EUFIC). N.p., Nov. 1999. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

Especially in underdeveloped countries, where rice is often the only staple food, iron and vitamin A deficiencies contribute to the high rates of mortality and infirmity of mothers and children.

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Evidence of Substantial Harm Biotech advocates will try to water down the situation, like they've done in the past.

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For example, an artificial combination of genes that includes a gene to produce the pesticide Cry1Ab protein (commonly known as Bt toxin), originally found in Bacillus thuringiensis, is inserted in to the DNA of corn randomly.

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However, a recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists reviewed 12 academic studies and indicates otherwise: "The several thousand field trials over the last 20 years for genes aimed at increasing operational or intrinsic yield (of crops) indicate a significant undertaking.

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In Haryana, India, most buffalo that ate GM cottonseed had reproductive complications such as premature deliveries, abortions, and infertility; many calves died.

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In contrast, "GE crop technology abrogates natural reproductive processes, selection occurs at the single cell level, the procedure is highly mutagenic and routinely breeches genera barriers, and the technique has only been used commercially for 10 years."

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In spite of this risk, the biotechnology industry claims that GM foods can feed the world through production of higher crop yields.

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In their excellent and detailed article about this new development, Latham and co-author Alison Wilson call on regulators to do the only scientifically justifiable thing—Recall GMOs that use this potentially disastrous CaMV promoter.

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In underdeveloped countries, 40 to 50% of children under five and over 50% of pregnant women suffer from iron deficiency

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Increased availability of these micro-nutrients in rice can help to reduce the scale of these deficiency-related diseases.

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Iron deficiency anaemia is considered to be the most widespread deficiency syndrome world-wide.

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It is designed to be more toxic,9 has properties of an allergen, and cannot be washed off the plant.

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It is sufficient in size and characteristics such that it could theoretically be producing viral proteins.

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It's called the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (CaMV) Promoter and is used in most GM crops to force the foreign gene to pump out their proteins at high volume, 24/7.

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Just beyond the promoter, or more accurately overlapping with it, is part of an actual virus gene.

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Many new plant genetic engineering technologies and GM plants have been patented, and patent infringement is a big concern of agribusiness.

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Natural breeding processes have been safely utilized for the past several thousand years.

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Organic farmers and others use natural Bt bacteria spray for insect control, so biotech companies claim that Bt-toxin must be safe.

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Over 1 million children die every year as a result of vitamin A deficiency.

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Over 100 million pre-school age children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, as do millions of women of child-bearing age.

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Reduced effectiveness of pesticides Just as some populations of mosquitoes developed resistance to the now-banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will become resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been genetically-modified to produce their own pesticides.

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Regarding biological gradient, one study, done by Kroghsbo, et al., has shown that rats fed transgenic Bt rice trended to a dose related response for Bt specific IgA.

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Small children, who are mainly fed on rice, are particularly prone to these deficiency-related diseases.

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Some had false pregnancies; others gave birth to bags of water. Cows and bulls also became infertile.8

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Specificity of the association of GM foods and specific disease processes is also supported. Multiple animal studies show significant immune dysregulation, including upregulation of cytokines associated with asthma, allergy, and inflammation

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Testicles of rats fed GM soy changed from the normal pink to dark blue.

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The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is thousands of times more concentrated than natural Bt spray.

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The newly nutritional benefits will be introduced into several other local rice varieties at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines and will be made freely available to local rice farmers for planting.

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These are genes known to control protein synthesis and modification, cell signaling, cholesterol synthesis, and insulin regulation. Studies also show intestinal damage in animals fed GM foods, including proliferation cell growth and disruption of the intestinal immune system.

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They have had the details about the CaMV promoter even before GMOs were ever approved, but are only now identifying the danger.

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They might pull out their often used claim that since there hasn't been any harm seen after feeding GMOs to hundreds of millions of people for more than an decade, we can just ignore these and other findings.

"Genetically Modified Foods." Position Paper: The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM).N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

They say it's completely harmless. Researchers in Europe finally got around to looking more closely at the genetic sequence from that promoter, and... well... now we can worry.

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This is why anaemia and vitamin A deficiencies are so widespread in regions where rice is the principal staple food.

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This means that depending on where it is inserted into the DNA, it might produce allergens, toxins, carcinogens, anti-nutrients, etc.

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This research has been conducted by a working group led by Prof. Ingo Potrykus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, in collaboration with a group led by Dr. Peter Beyer at the University of Freiburg i. Breisgau (Germany).

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This study is being reexamined by the USDA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other non-government research groups, and preliminary data from new studies suggests that the original study may have been flawed

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This technology is also referred to as "genetic engineering", "biotechnology" or "recombinant DNA technology" and consists of randomly inserting genetic fragments of DNA from one organism to another, usually from a different species.

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This topic is the subject of acrimonious debate, and both sides of the argument are defending their data vigorously.

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Vitamin A deficiency causes increased risk of infection, night-blindness and, in severe cases, total blindness.

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Vitamin A is essential for the operation of the body's immune system and is responsible for protecting mucous membrane cells.

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When bugs bite the plant, poison splits open their stomach and kills them.

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if you eat food from any of the 54 types of GM plants that use the CaMV promoter (including soybeans and most corn), you may be much more susceptible to viral infections, including colds, hepatitis, even AIDS.