Secret GM Food Study: Rats Get Sick from Eating It!
By Geoffrey Lean, Independent.co.uk
Rats fed GM corn due for sale in Britain developed abnormalities in blood and kidneys. So what might it do to humans?
Rats fed
on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to
internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human
health could be affected by eating GM food.
The
Independent [last Sunday] reveal[ed] details of secret research carried
out by Monsanto, the GM food giant, which shows that rats fed the
modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of
their blood.
According
to the confidential 1,139-page report, these health problems were
absent from another batch of rodents fed non-GM food as part of the
research project.
The
disclosures come as European countries, including Britain, prepare to
vote on whether the GM-modified corn should go on sale to the public. A
vote last week by the European Union failed to secure agreement over
whether the product should be sold [there], after Britain and nine
other countries voted in favour.
However,
the disclosure of the health effects on the Monsanto rats has
intensified the row over whether the corn is safe to eat without
further research. Doctors said the changes in the blood of the rodents
could indicate that the rat's immune system had been damaged or that a
disorder such as a tumour had grown and the system was mobilising to
fight it.
…Dr
Michael Antoniu, an expert in molecular genetics at Guy's Hospital
Medical School, described the findings as “very worrying from a medical
point of view”, adding: “I have been amazed at the number of
significant differences they found [in the rat experiment].”
Although
Monsanto dismissed the abnormalities in rats as meaningless and due to
chance, reflecting normal variations between rats, a senior British
government source said ministers were so worried by the findings that
they had called for further information.
Environmentalists
will see the findings as vindication of British research seven years
ago, which suggested that rats that ate GM potatoes suffered damage to
their health. That research, which was roundly denounced by ministers
and the British scientific establishment, was halted and Dr Arpad
Pusztai, the scientist behind the controversial findings, was forced
into retirement amid a huge row over the claim.
Dr
Pusztai reported a “huge list of significant differences” between rats
fed GM and conventional corn, saying the results strongly indicate that
eating significant amounts of it can damage health. The new study is
into a corn, codenamed MON 863, which has been modified by Monsanto to
protect itself against corn rootworm, which the company describes as
“one of the most pernicious pests affecting maize crops around the
world”.
Now,
however, any decision to allow the corn to be marketed in the UK will
cause widespread alarm. The full details of the rat research are
included in the main report, which Monsanto refuses to release on the
grounds that “it contains confidential business information which could
be of commercial use to our competitors”.
(Source)
Contributed by Larry Hanus of Waterloo
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