France Orders Probe After Rat Study Links GM Corn-Cancer

Controversial study finds tumours in rats fed GM by euronews-en

France Orders Probe After Rat Study Links GM Corn-Cancer

Excerpt:

- France's government on Wednesday asked a health watchdog to carry out a probe, possibly leading to EU suspension of a genetically-modified corn, after a study in rats linked the grain to cancer. Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll, Ecology Minister Delphine Batho and Health and Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine said they had asked the National Agency for Health Safety (ANSES) to investigate the finding."Depending on ANSES' opinion, the government will urge the European authorities to take all necessary measures to protect human and animal health," they said in a joint statement.

"(The measures) could go as far as invoking emergency suspension of imports of NK603 corn to Europe pending a re-examination of this product on the basis of enhanced assessment methods." Earlier, French scientists led by Gilles-Eric Seralini at the University of Caen in Normandy unveiled a study that said rats fed with NK603 corn or exposed to the weedkiller used with it developed tumours.

NK603 is a corn, also called maize, made by US agribusiness giant Monsanto. It has been engineered to make it resistant to Monsanto's herbicide Roundup. This enables farmers to douse fields with the weedkiller in a single go, thus offering substantial savings. Genetically modified (GM) crops are widely grown in North America, Brazil and China but are a hot-button issue in Europe.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, says it is the first to look at rats over their normal lifespan of two years. "For the first time ever, a GM organism and a herbicide have been evaluated for their long-term impact on health, and more thoroughly than by governments or the industry," Seralini told AFP. "The results are alarming."Two hundred male and female rats were split into 10 groups of 10 animals.

One was a "control" group which was given ordinary rat food that contained 33 percent non-GM corn, and plain water. Three groups were given ordinary rat food and water with increasing doses of Roundup, reflecting various concentrations of the herbicide in the food chain. The other six were fed rat food of which 11, 22 or 33 percent comprised NK603 corn, either treated or not with Roundup when the corn was grown.

The researchers found that NK603 and Roundup both caused similar damage to the rats' health, whether they were consumed together or on their own. Premature deaths and sickness were concentrated especially among females. 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.

"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. Males which fell sick suffered liver damage, developed kidney and skin tumours and digestive problems.

Breaking with a long tradition in scientific journalism, the authors allowed a selected group of reporters to have access to the paper, provided they signed confidentiality agreements that prevented them from consulting other experts about the research before publication.

Asked to respond, the French unit of Monsanto said "it is too soon to make a serious comment because we have to evaluate the study. As soon as it is available, our experts will look closely at it to give their scientific assessment."

end of excerpt.

Also See:

CRIIGEN Study Links GM Maize/RoundUp To Premature Death And Cancer

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Well now, isn't that a LAUGH? The French unit of Monsanto stated that once the study is available their "experts" will look closely at it to give their "scientific" assessment. Best laugh I had all day. But in all seriousness, the fact that these tests show damage to the two organs of the body charged with flushing out toxins should be very troubling. In these tests it was stated that these rats were fed over their lifetimes. Now, take into account a human child born that is automatically put on GM soy formula and then cereals and then given a diet of mostly processed foods with BT corn and soy, how long do you think it would then take to affect their systems?

Childhood obesity is now skyrocketing in America... Could it be because the bacteria really is not breaking down as was said it would and the pesticide residues are so overwhelming the liver does not have the capacity to flush them? It would be more difficult for it to do so with children eating these organisms in their diet every day. If there is ever a case for labelling GMOs this is it. We must side with the precautionary principle in regards to these organisms!

There was a recent row over Chinese children being fed GM "golden rice" in a USDA study. They were used as human guinea pigs without any sort of science to show whether or not these tests were safe for these children. This is NOT science. This is science selling out to profit and it is threatening and affecting the health of animals, human and the biodiversity of this planet. In America, we can begin the process of accountabilty by voting YES on prop 37 in California this November. These companies should not be allowed to get away with their secrecy and using us as guinea pigs in a global experiment for profit. These tests show us something very important: 'Generally' Regarded As Safe is not safe.

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CRIIGEN Report on Current Study

Disturbing photos here. I also do not like to see animals used in these tests. BAN GMOS!

~~ "For the first time, the health impact of a GMO and a widely used pesticide have been comprehensively assessed * in a long term animal feeding trial of greater duration and with more detailed analyses than any previous studies, by environmental and food agencies, governments, industries or researchers institutes. The two tested products are in very common use : (i) a transgenic maize made tolerant to Roundup, the characteristic shared by over 80% of food and animal feed GMOs, and (ii) Roundup itself, the most widely used herbicide on the planet. The regulatory approval process requires these products to be tested on rats as a surrogate for humans. The new research took the form of a two year feeding trial on 200 rats, monitored for outcomes against more than 100 parameters. The doses were consistent with typical dietary/ environmental exposure (from 11% GMO in the diet, and 0.1 ppb in water). The results, which are of serious concern, included increased and more rapid mortality, coupled with hormonal non linear and sex related effects. Females developed significant and numerous mammary tumours, pituitary and kidney problems. Males died mostly from severe hepatorenal chronic deficiencies. Professor Seralini's team in the University of Caen is publishing this detailed study in one of the leading scientific international peer-reviewed journals of food toxicology, on line on Sept. 19, 2012."

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This is the earlier study published in 2009:

A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health

Conclusions:

"Patho-physiological profiles are unique for each GM crop/food, underlining the necessity for a case-by-case evaluation of their safety, as is largely admitted and agreed by regulators. It is not possible to make comments concerning any general, similar subchronic toxic effect for all GM foods. However, in the three GM maize varieties that formed the basis of this investigation, new side effects linked to the consumption of these cereals were revealed, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others [4]. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity.

This can be due to the new pesticides (herbicide or insecticide) present specifically in each type of GM maize, although unintended metabolic effects due to the mutagenic properties of the GM transformation process cannot be excluded [42]. All three GM maize varieties contain a distinctly different pesticide residue associated with their particular GM event (glyphosate and AMPA in NK 603, modified Cry1Ab in MON 810, modified Cry3Bb1 in MON 863). These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown. Furthermore, any side effect linked to the GM event will be unique in each case as the site of transgene insertion and the spectrum of genome wide mutations will differ between the three modified maize types. In conclusion, our data presented here strongly recommend that additional long-term (up to 2 years) animal feeding studies be performed in at least three species, preferably also multi-generational, to provide true scientifically valid data on the acute and chronic toxic effects of GM crops, feed and foods. Our analysis highlights that the kidneys and liver as particularly important on which to focus such research as there was a clear negative impact on the function of these organs in rats consuming GM maize varieties for just 90 days.