Toxin From Genetically Modified Crops Found In Human Blood: Study

[Mark]

Toxin From Genetically Modified Crops Found In Human Blood: Study Also Finds In Fetal Blood Contamination Passing On To Next Generation



Fresh doubts have arisen about the safety of genetically modified crops, with a new study reporting presence of Bt toxin, used widely in GM crops, in human blood for the first time. Genetically modified crops include genes extracted from bacteria to make them resistant to pest attacks. These genes make crops toxic to pests but are claimed to pose no danger to the environment and human health. Genetically modified brinjal, whose commercial release was stopped a year ago, has a toxin derived from a soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis ( Bt). Till now, scientists and multinational corporations promoting GM crops have maintained that Bt toxin poses no danger to human health as the protein breaks down in the human gut. But the presence of this toxin in human blood shows that this does not happen. Scientists from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, have detected the insecticidal protein, Cry1Ab, circulating in the blood of pregnant as well as non-pregnant women. They have also detected the toxin in fetal blood, implying it could pass on to the next generation. The research paper has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the journal Reproductive Toxicology.

rest: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/toxin-from-gm-crops-found-in-human-blood/1/137728.html

[Mark]

Parents Warned Over Baby Formula With Genetically Modified Contaminants

Parents may want to avoid Nestle and Heinz infant formula made in Australia, and to stock up on organic New Zealand-made products, after the companies announced they will accept GM contaminants in their products.The shock announcement by the manufacturers through the Infant Nutrition Council (INC) puts them at loggerheads with consumers seeking safe, organic and GM-free foods. It also signals the risk of novel gene constructs overwhelming the integrity of segregation and tracking systems vital for food safety. The decision to accept GM contamination rather than maintain a GM-Free policy and best-practice to purge GM-derived ingredients, also puts Nestle and Heinz in line for future lawsuits, just as companies faced with the unexpected long-term harm from asbestos. Some approved GM ingredients are known to cause harm in animal feeding experiments...

rest: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1105/S00029/parents-warned-over-oz-baby-formula.htm


Flashback Last Week: GM Soy - The Invisible Ingredient 'Poisoning' Children

GM Soy destroys people’s lives, she says. “It is a poison. It is no way to live. Soy is deadly to us”. Sitting outside her painted green shack in rural Paraguay, the mother of eight describes the day in January 2003 when her 11-year-old son Silvino Talavera came home from cycling to the shops. “I was washing clothes down by the river and he came to tell me he had been sprayed by one of the mosquitoes (the spraying machines behind a tractor),” she says. “He smelt so bad that he took his clothes off and jumped straight in the water.” The busy mum did not think much more about it. For people living around GM soy fields spraying with chemicals is a common occurrence...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8391748/GM-soy-The-invisible-ingredient-poisoning-children.html

[Mark]

Genetically Modified Crops Pose Health Risk

Approximately 75 percent of the corn planted in St. Lawrence County is genetically modified (GM). Since the 1996 introduction of GM crops, the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has accelerated exponentially. It is even difficult for farmers in St. Lawrence County to find non-GM seed because the market has been flooded by biotechnology companies with patented seeds. A commonly used GM crop in the north country is Bt corn. A gene from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis is inserted into the corn, allowing corn to destroy insects such as corn borers or rootworm. But the Cry1Ab toxin is nonspecific and can enter into the environment threatening local ecology and causing negative impacts on nontarget species like monarch butterflies and aquatic invertebrates. A recent study showed that 100 percent of streams tested within 500 meters of farms growing Bt crops contained the Cry1Ab toxin...

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20110515/OPINION02/305159987/-1/opinion