[Mb-civic] Revealed: Health Fears Over Secret Study into GM Food

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Published on Sunday, May 22, 2005 by the lndependent/UK
Revealed: Health Fears Over Secret Study into 
GM Food
Rats fed GM corn due for sale in Britain developed abnormalities 
in blood and kidneys
by Geoffrey Lean
 

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 on Sunday can today reveal 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 here, after Britain 
and nine other countries voted in favor.

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 tumor had grown and the system was mobilizing to 
fight it.

Dr Vyvyan Howard, a senior lecturer on human anatomy and cell 
biology at Liverpool University, called for the publication of the full 
study, saying the summary gave "prima facie cause for concern".

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 last night 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".

A Monsanto spokesman said yesterday: "If any such well-known anti-
biotech critics had doubts about the credibility of these studies they 
should have raised them with the regulators. After all, MON 863 isn't 
new, having been approved to be as safe as conventional maize by 
nine other global authorities since 2003."

© Copyright 2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.

###


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