{"id":306,"date":"2011-03-20T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T20:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/genetic-engineering-based-on-obsolete-science-and-regulatory-capture-peer-reviewed-research.html"},"modified":"2011-03-20T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-20T20:05:00","slug":"genetic-engineering-based-on-obsolete-science-and-regulatory-capture-peer-reviewed-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/genetic-engineering-based-on-obsolete-science-and-regulatory-capture-peer-reviewed-research.html","title":{"rendered":"Genetic engineering based on obsolete science and regulatory capture –peer-reviewed research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/a>\nHere is peer-reviewed evidence that we are the guinea pigs\nfor worldwide experimentation on the food supply\nusing fatally-flawed science.\nExperimentation that isn’t needed because we already know how to do it right.\n

\nWe already knew Monsanto is\n\nblocking independent GMO research in the U.S.<\/a> (L.A. Times op-ed)\nand there are numerous examples of\n\nMonsanto gaming regulatory systems.<\/a>\nNow\n\nKen Rosenboro of The Organic and Non-GMO Report tells us\nthere’s peer-reviewed research that says:<\/a>\n

\n…the technology is based on obsolete science, that biotechnology\ncompanies such as Monsanto have too much influence on government\nregulators and “public” universities, and that university scientists\nare ignoring the health and environmental risks of GM crops.\n<\/blockquote>\nThe research is published as two papers by Don Lotter in the\nInternational Journal of the Sociology of Agriculture and Food:\n

\nPart 1:\n\nThe Development of a Flawed Enterprise<\/a>\n

\nPart 2:\n\nAcademic Capitalism and the Loss of Scientific Integrity<\/a>\n

\nIn a 7 August 2009 article in FoodFirst,\n\nThe Genetic Engineering of Food and the Failure of Science<\/a>,\nDon Lotter explains what’s in those two papers:\n\n\n

\nThe search for solutions to hunger, poverty and climate change has brought\nnew intensity to the debate over genetically modified crops. Biotechnology\nis expected to be a central building block in the State Department’s food\nsecurity strategy, and prominent legislation in the Senate could mandate\nbiotechnology research be a permanent part of US foreign aid. Meanwhile\nhigh profile defeats for the biotech industry are mounting. [editor’s\nnote]\n

\nA major conflict over this issue has developed. On one side are\nscientists, universities and corporations who have invested nearly 25\nyears and tens of billions of dollars in the genetic engineering of crop\nplants. One the other side is a flood of evidence that the process of\nfood plant transgenics (genetic engineering) is deeply and fatally flawed\nand has been resting on a theoretical foundation that has crumbled away\nas the science of genetics reinvents itself.\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nWhat’s the flaw?\n

\nFrom the beginning, the entire crop transgenics enterprise has been based\non the now-discredited \u201cone-gene one-protein\u201d theory that one gene\nleads to the production of one protein. The fatal blow to this one-gene\none-protein model came in 2003 with the shocking results of the Human\nGenome Project which showed that humans have vastly fewer genes than\npreviously believed. As a result of this, the project scientists now\nreport that the genomes of higher organisms (including plants); are not\nwhat scientists had believed them to be, and that \u201cgenes appear to\noperate in a complex network, and interact and overlap with one another\nand with other components in ways not yet fully understood.\u201d They\nconclude that these findings challenge scientists \u201cto rethink some\nlong-held views about what genes are and what they do.\u201d\n

\nTo quote renowned cellular biologist Barry Commoner, commenting on the\nresults of the Human Genome Project: \u201cThe fact that one gene can give\nrise to multiple proteins \u2026 destroys the theoretical foundation of a\nmultibillion dollar industry, the genetic engineering of food crops.\u201d\n<\/blockquote>\nLife is a network, right down to the genetic level!\nImagine that!\nIt’s downright… ecological!\n

\nSo what is big agro using for guinea pigs in their flawed research?\n

\nNumerous scientific studies show that the process of the genetic\nengineering of plants is associated with genome-wide mutations,\nlarge-scale rearrangements or deletions of plant chromosomal DNA as well\nas insertion of superfluous DNA.1 The main change to food resulting from\nthis genomic disruption is that novel proteins are produced \u2013 proteins\nthat have never been in the human digestive system. These are often common\nfood proteins that have a changed configuration such that the human body\ndoes not recognize them and reacts as if it is a disease. Allergies are\njust one of the outcomes.\n<\/blockquote>\nThat’s right: guinea pigs R us.\n

\nMeanwhile, what do even prominent scientists get for pointing out\nproblems with GMO crops?\n

\nFor example, in the late 1990s, one of Europe\u2019s top genetic engineers,\nDr. \u00c1rp\u00e1d Pusztai, found that the process of genetic engineering of the\npotato caused test rats to develop potentially precancerous cell growth\nin the digestive tract; inhibited development of the brain, liver, and\ntesticles; caused partial atrophy of the liver; enlarged pancreas and\nintestines; and immune system damage. Pusztai\u2019s subsequent termination\nfrom his senior position at a UK research institute following the release\nof his research results is discussed in my paper along with other examples\nof bias against and mistreatment of scientists whose research does not\nsupport transgenics. Pusztai\u2019s paper in The Lancet, considered the\ntop medical journal in the world, remains a landmark in food transgenics.2\n<\/blockquote>\nThat’s right: fired for publishing the truth.\n

\nMeanwhile, not only have no studies ever been done that demonstrate\nthe safety of GMO foods, but there are no systematic studies or monitoring\nbeing done to detect any widespread damages from GMO foods:\n

\nCommenting on the lack of safety data on transgenic foods in the Journal\nof Medicinal Food,4 David Schubert, head of the Cellular Neurobiology\nLaboratory at the Salk Institute in California, wrote in 2008: “There\nare, in fact, no data comparing the food safety profiles of GM versus\nconventional breeding, and the ubiquitous argument that ‘since there\nis no evidence that GM products make people sick, they are safe’\nis both illogical and false. There are, again, simply no data or even\nvalid assays to support this contention. Without proper epidemiological\nstudies, most types of harm will not be detected, and no such studies\nhave been conducted.”\n<\/blockquote>\nIt’s like finding a way to cause tsunamis and having no tsunami monitoring\nsystem.\n

\nWait, it gets evenkbetter:\n

\nHowever, DNA from GM foods can actually insert itself into a completely\ndifferent species when a part of the foreign gene package used to make\nthe process of genetic engineering work, encounters a “DNA hotspot.”\nThese “hotspots” make it easier for foreign DNA to “jump” from\none species to another\u2014meaning it is possible for genes from GM corn\nto “jump” to the bacteria naturally present in our stomachs. This\nis a very serious flaw with health implications that have not been\nadequately researched.\n<\/blockquote>\nThat’s right: in modern big agro world, GMO DNA may genetically\nengineer your gut.\n

\nSo how does big agro sell this stuff?\nLotter states outright the big lie of big agro:\n

\n“Genetic engineering is needed to feed a hungry world” is one of the\nmain public relations thrusts of the biotechnology industry. However, in\naddition to the serious genetic flaws and food safety issues, transgenic\ncrops have been shown in study after study to produce no more food\nthan their nontransgenic counterparts.5 Furthermore, most developing\ncountries do not want their future food security tied to crops patented\nby large corporations from developed countries — a scenario that could\ndrain economy via royalty payments.\n<\/blockquote>\nNot only can this stuff poison us and our whole ecology,\nit is also a drain on the economy.\nIt doesn’t even make business sense.\n

\nAnd do we actually need GMO to feed the world?\n

\nIn 2008 over 400 agricultural experts from some 40 countries, sponsored\nby the UN, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization, finalized a\nframework for future food security. Significantly, transgenic crops were\nnot included in that framework, known as the International Assessment of\nAgricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).6\nIt is well established in research that current state-of-the-science\nmethods utilizing non-transgenic crops — essentially a combination of\nsustainable agricultural and classic Green Revolution methods — can\nquite adequately satisfy world food needs into the future without the\nneed for transgenic crops.\n<\/blockquote>\nNo, we don’t need GMO;\nwe need local food that we can eat.\n

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