Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease

[lovuian]

Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3912

Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome and idealistic—the perfect candidate to project the company’s “Save the world through genetic engineering” image.
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In the summer of 1997, Kirk spoke with a Monsanto scientist who was doing some tests on Roundup Ready cotton. Using a “Western blot” analysis, the scientist was able to identify different proteins by their molecular weight. He told Kirk that the GM cotton not only contained the intended protein produced by the Roundup Ready gene, but also extra proteins that were not normally produced in the plant. These unknown proteins had been created during the gene insertion process.
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At this time, Roundup Ready cotton varieties were just being introduced into other regions but were still being field-tested in California. California varieties had not yet been commercialized. But Kirk came to find out that Monsanto was feeding the cotton plants used in its test plots to cattle.
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GM cotton has provided ample reports of unpredicted side-effects. In April 2006, more than 70 Indian shepherds reported that 25% of their herds died within 5-7 days of continuous grazing on Bt cotton plants.<2> Hundreds of Indian agricultural laborers reported allergic reactions from Bt cotton. Some cotton harvesters have been hospitalized and many laborers in cotton gin factories take antihistamines each day before work.<3>

The cotton’s agronomic performance is also erratic. When Monsanto’s GM cotton varieties were first introduced in the US, tens of thousands of acres suffered deformed roots and other unexpected problems. Monsanto paid out millions in settlements.<4> When Bt cotton was tested in Indonesia, widespread pest infestation and drought damage forced withdrawal of the crop, despite the fact that Monsanto had been bribing at least 140 individuals for years, trying to gain approval.<5> In India, inconsistent performance has resulted in more than $80 million dollars in losses in each of two states.<6> Thousands of indebted Bt cotton farmers have committed suicide. In Vidarbha, in north east Maharashtra, from June through August 2006, farmers committed suicide at a rate of about one every eight hours.<7> (The list of adverse reactions reported from other GM crops, in lab animals, livestock and humans, is considerably longer.)
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This is one big Nightmare and it continues

[soothsayer]

1. death to monsatan!

[Mimosa]

2. Monsanto is EVIL

Way back in the early 80s I was a young environmental activist. One time I had occasion to write to a particular vice-president of Monsanto about the effects of their products pollution of groundwater and runoff into rivers.I received the most amazingly candid and angry reply about how us ignorant environmentalists will actually lose and have no power whatsoever in the future.

[lovuian]

3. Anybody that does this and creates it are madmen

definitely the agenda is poisoning the human race on a massive scale

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. See who has been significantly connected to Monsanto

in this Presidential Race.. Just google each of the candidates and monsanto

[BadgerKid]

5. Sad, but not all mutations are beneficial.

Darwinism ensues.

*Geek alert*
I wonder how much attention is given to altered gene interactions during the R&D process at a company. My guess would be relatively little for two reasons: 1) there is a profit motive involved, and 2) the study of interacting genes is still a relatively new area of science. I stand to be enlightened. :hi:

[Mojorabbit]

6. The scariest thing

is that there has been a litany of reports over the years and nothing is done.

[pansypoo53219]

7. don't fuck with mother nature.

america is insane to allow this shit.

[Usrename]

8. They killed a lot of sheep in Australia with this GM cotton.

The sheep were allowed to graze the fields after the cotton was picked and they died by the thousands. I think it was tracked to liver damage. This was several years ago, and I think they either banned the cotton, or banned using it as feed down there.
Why are they still doing this?

Can't they be charged with some kind of capital crime and executed? Isn't this what we save the death penalty for?

[DCKit]

9. In Australia? I guess it depends on how "fond" of that particular sheep you are. n/t

[lovuian]

10. kick

kick