Ok, so what about safety... does this sound like something you want to eat... I don't, give me organic.
http://phys.org/news/2012-09-france-gm-cancer-threat.html
External Quote:
NK603 is a type of corn, or maize, that has been engineered to make it resistant to Roundup and is used by farmers to maximise yields. The authors of the study said it was the first experiment in GM food that followed rats throughout their lifespan, as opposed to just 90 days. Premature death and tumours were far higher among rats, especially females, that had been fed the GM corn or given ordinary corn supplemented by water to which low concentrations of Roundup had been added
Premature death and tumours were far higher among rats, especially females, that had been fed the GM corn or given ordinary corn supplemented by water to which low concentrations of Roundup had been added, they said. At the 14-month stage of experiment, no animals in the control groups showed any signs of cancer, but among females in the "treated" groups, tumours affected between 10 and 30 percent of the rodents, the study said. "By the beginning of the 24th month, 50-80 percent of female animals had developed tumours in all treated groups, with up to three tumours per animal, whereas only 30 percent of controls were affected," it said.
But other scientists said the study was too underpowered, had questionable gaps in the data and raised doubts more about Roundup than the NK603 corn itself. It entailed 200 rats divided into 10 experimental groups, of which only 20 were "controls" fed ordinary corn and plain water.
Why is this the FIRST test to moniter the rats throughout their lives? This test report is dated Sept 2012.
And with all the 'pressure' applied what are the motives of the scientists who dispute the validity of these tests?
And further what about the 'owning of the seedbanks' and the patenting of the genes? This is all worrying stuff IMO
Ah, I read about this Monday. Lots of problems with the study.
The particular strain of rats used are genetically pre-disposed to cancer and don't live long.
The anti-GMO folks always claim that studies showing safety of GMO crops are biased, but this anti-GMO one appears to be pot-kettle-black designed as a publicity stunt wit all the embargoes and non-disclosure agreements.
http://www.nature.com/news/hyped-gm-maize-study-faces-growing-scrutiny-1.11566
Nature said:
[more at above link-JR]
Hyped GM maize study faces growing scrutiny
Food-safety bodies slam feeding study that claims increased cancer incidence in rats.
Last week, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, and Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin both issued initial assessments slamming the paper, bluntly asserting that its conclusions are not supported by the data presented. "The design, reporting and analysis of the study, as outlined in the paper, are inadequate," says the EFSA in a press release, adding that the paper is "of insufficient scientific quality to be considered as valid for risk assessment".
There is a high probability that the findings in relation to the tumour incidence are due to chance, given the low number of animals and the spontaneous occurrence of tumours in Sprague-Dawley rats," concludes the EFSA report. In response to the EFSA's assessment, the European Federation of Biotechnology — an umbrella body in Barcelona, Spain, that represents biotech researchers, institutes and companies across Europe — called for the study to be retracted, describing its publication as a "dangerous case of failure of the peer-review system".
Yet Séralini has promoted the cancer results as the study's major finding, through a tightly orchestrated media offensive that began last month and included the release of a book and a film about the work. Only a select group of journalists (not including Nature) was given access to the embargoed paper, and each writer was required to sign a highly unusual confidentiality agreement, seen by Nature, which prevented them from discussing the paper with other scientists before the embargo expired.
Journalists often receive embargoed journal articles, and standard practice is to solicit independent assessments before the paper is published. The agreement for this paper, however, did not allow any disclosure and threatened a severe penalty for non-compliance: "A refund of the cost of the study of several million euros would be considered damages if the premature disclosure questioned the release of the study."
In an exceptional move, the ethics committee of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) last week decried the public-relations offensive as inappropriate for a high-quality and objective scientific debate, and reminded researchers working on controversial topics of the need to report results responsibly to the public.
Some thoughts:
People have owned seedbanks as long as there have been seeds.
The Dutch held a monopoly on nutmegs for 200 years.
Natural ruber was strictly a product of Brazil until and englishman smuggled it out and sent it to asia.
You can own your own seedbank if you like.
The Red Delicious apple has over 40 patented 'sports', sub varieties with different qualities from the original.
It is a CLONE, which cannot be produced by seeds.
Stark Nurseries, still in busness today, bought the rights to Red Delicious in 1892.
Some people call the variety "Red Disgusting".
Sometimes this Disgusting fruit has hideous MUTATIONS called 'sports'.
Some of them turned out to be very good apples though, and were patented.
The first Fuji apple wasn't a CLONE, but every Fuji apple you've ever eaten was a CLONE from the first.
The Fuji apple came from the CLONED Red Disgusting apple crossed with another apple.
The Gala apple didn't come from the PATENTED CLONED Red Disgusting apple.
It came from New Zealand, but it came from a Yellow Disgusting apple crossed with another apple.
Every Gala apple you've ever eaten was a CLONE from the first, some have likely been MUTANTS as well.
Pineapples make no seeds. All pineapples, even orgainic ones, are CLONES. All bananas are also CLONES.
Have you ever eaten a CLONE? Most people have and enjoy doing so, even if these FRANKENFOODS often are grown in
TEST TUBES. Sounds icky, tastes sweet.
