Be Specific You Knucklehead

I know some of you are weary of my generalities in reference to genetically modifies foods. I regularly blast Monsanto and make reference to studies that say they are bad for us to eat. This post will be more specific about these claims.

I will leave the damage to the soil and ecosystems out of this post.

Very little testing has been done by the government of the US on GMO crops. They have relied on the manufacturers testing. The little testing that has been done has been described as using methods that are "highly flawed"  by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho in a report to ISIS in 2002 in the UK. Even with the flawed methods the tests showed higher than expected levels of the GMO DNA in the digestive systems - guts - of test subjects.

The problem with the DNA from these foods in the gut is that they can transfer traits to the bacteria in your gut. That means the trait that allows the GMO crop to create pesticide can be transferred to our DNA through the bacteria in our guts. This means that our cells could become pesticide producers. That is not good news.

Along with not properly measuring the effects on the gut  the study also did not look at the blood of any study participants to look for transfer there. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho calls this "inexcusable" since prior studies on mice showed that GM DNA passed through the gut wall into the bloodstream. The way the DNA is engineered in GMO crops is called a horizontal transfer which is designed to facilitate the transfer across cells. They are more efficient than natural cells at transferring.


A complete copy of Dr. Ho's report is found here. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/hgthumangut.php

Some specific examples from testing that was done are as follows:

1. GMO peas caused lung damage in Mice.
2. Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and   the inability to reproduce.
3. GMO foods lead to significant organ disruptions in rats and mice, specifically the kidney, liver, heart and spleen.
4. GMO corn caused a wide variety of immune responses in mice, commonly associated with diseases such as arthritis, Lou Gehrig's disease, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
5. Livestock in both the US and India that were fed GMO feed had higher than normal issues with reproduction including fertility problems, low birth weight, and miscarriages.

93% of people in the US want GMO products labeled.

More soon....