Monsanto's GMO Corn Linked to Organ Failure, Study Reveals

[greenbird]

I hesitate to link to HuffPo, but their article contains a link to the original study, which is fascinating:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html

"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. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity....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."

[GreenMetalFlake]

1. Monsanto: poster child for evil corporation

[AndyA]

2. How long will it take to have these products removed from the market for further testing?

There's obviously SOMETHING going on with these GM foods.

Corporate profits trump human life, apparently.

[Junkdrawer]

3. Here's the study

http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm

[SpiralHawk]

4. Don't want no steenkin insidious occult GMO mutant food-facsimile crapola

At the very least they should LABEL this mutant GMO crap, so that those who want it (hah) can identify it, and those who don't want it can avoid it.

Monsanto is a RepubliconThink corporation, and so as it typical it does it's mutant shenanigans occultly.

[Canuckistanian]

5. It's time to start treating GMO foods like experimental drugs

Long-term animal studies, toxicity screens and finally, tightly controlled human trials.

The problem is, these things are cooked up in a Monsanto lab and just released to the world in massive quantities, sold to farmers as "a wonder crop" that will increase their yield.

At NO TIME is the end consumer taken into account.

[LWolf]

6. Who was it, again, that Obama appointed to head the USDA?

Oh, yeah.

Vilsack.

<snip>

* Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's support of genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops, especially pharmaceutical corn:
http://www.gene.ch/genet/2002/Oct/msg00057.html
http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/drugsincorn102302.cfm

* The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, named Vilsack Governor of the Year. He was also the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.
http://www.bio.org/news/pressreleases/newsitem.asp?id=200...

* When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster child of economic development potential was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning dairy cows.

* Vilsack was the origin of the seed pre-emption bill in 2005, which many people here in Iowa fought because it took away local government's possibility of ever having a regulation on seeds- where GE would be grown, having GE-free buffers, banning pharma corn locally, etc. Representative Sandy Greiner, the Republican sponsor of the bill, bragged on the House Floor that Vilsack put her up to it right after his state of the state address.

* Vilsack has a glowing reputation as being a schill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto. Sustainable ag advocated across the country were spreading the word of Vilsack's history as he was attempting to appeal to voters in his presidential bid. An activist from the west coast even made this youtube animation about Vilsack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmoc4Qgcm4s
The airplane in this animation is a referral to the controversy that Vilsack often traveled in Monsanto's jet.

*Vilsack is an ardent support of corn and soy based biofuels, which use as much or more fossil energy to produce them as they generate, while driving up world food prices and literally starving the poor.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_15573.cfm

[Ignis]

20. "Change" apparently means "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."

So it goes. :(

[earth mom]

23. Nice connecting of the dots. nt

[biermeister]

7. but Monsanto was just voted company of the year by Forbes

www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0118/americas-best-company-10-gmos-dupont-planet-versus-monsanto.html

why would such a "good company" want to produce products that could potentially harm people (notwithstanding the profit potential)?

[Ignis]

21. Oh, that's rich!

:banghead:

Thanks for the link; I'd missed that particular gem.

[FiveGoodMen]

25. Kind of like our president getting a Nobel Peace Prize for escalating a war?

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Who let these people get so much power!

[greenbird]

9. I always want to know what I can DO about things like this.

A good place to start, maybe:

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/SG/Home/index.cfm

[Javaman]

10. I'm waiting for the GMO cheerleader to chime in. Yes, there are a few here on DU. nt

[JoeyT]

14. Well, to be fair

there are uses for genetic modification that could potentially end world hunger, create drought/flood resistant crops, food that takes longer to spoil, crops that pests don't like, and so on.
The problem is that Monsanto isn't actually doing any of that. What they're doing is further trying to corner several markets at once to become the sole supplier of seed for the world. Seed for plants that can't reproduce and are resistant to Round-up.

[Javaman]

15. Chicken or the egg..

they produce GMO's for world consumption but at the same time try to corner the market.

Or they try to corner the market under the guise of trying to feed the world.

I don't care what their argument or justification is in their pursuit of whatever, it's now proven that GMO's are bad for us.

So given that this report shows that GMO's are bad, how does that solve world hunger?

The issue at hand is, there needs to be a more stringent process to determine whether or not a particular GMO passes the smell test. 90 Days does nothing.

Watch the movie, The Constant Gardener", like with the drug companies, the general population is the testing grounds for all new GMO's rushed to the market to "save us" from our selves.

Also google, "flavor saver tomato". I think goes by "flavr savr", not sure. And see how that effected people. They have known about the ill effects of GMO's for a very long time, but just like with the pharmaceutical industry, they don't want to go through the long drawn out process of getting approval of there products. And because it is food, it's not considered manufactured and thus skirts the law on what is acceptable for use and consumption.

We are their lab rats.

I grow my own produce and what I don't grow I get from the farmers market by people whom I know and have visited their farm to see their agricultural practices.

I'm not about to put anything in my body that has been produced by a corporate lab.

I also suggest you pick up the documentary, "The Future of Food".

[JoeyT]

17. I agree that it's a bit of a chicken and egg deal.

The problem is that all the really bad stuff has mostly come from Monsanto.
It's entirely possible only Monsanto's shit is bad because they either have crappy quality control or shortsighted policies.

There are problems with any new technology. The trick is to find solutions to the problems so the technology can be used on a wide scale. This won't happen as long as one(or even a few) companies are granted free reign to do pretty much whatever they like without any oversight.

Genetically engineered crops *could* feed the world and be safe. But they won't be as long as the company that creates them does so to create massive profits. Therein lies the problem. All the GMOs floating around right now were created with one thing in mind: the bottom line. Safety, reliability, and anything else to do with "ethics" were pretty far down the list. Practically nothing that promises to better humanity does anything remotely useful when it's done with profit being the primary goal.

[The2ndWheel]

19. Corner the market? No way

"could potentially end world hunger, create drought/flood resistant crops, food that takes longer to spoil, crops that pests don't like, and so on."

That would be cornering the market too, species style. Not much difference between what Monsanto does, and what the human species has been doing for a long time, because Monsanto is just an extension of it.

[NashVegas]

16. Brought To You

By the letter "B"?

[Javaman]

11. I'm waiting for the GMO cheerleader to chime in. Yes, there are a few here on DU. nt

[JohnyCanuck]

12. K&R

[L0oniX]

13. We're all guinea pigs for them.

[happy_liberal]

18. K&R

Their 'food' is killing people, someone must be held accountable for this!

[efhmc]

22. Organic foods only.

[Union Yes]

24. Can we genetically modify capitalists so they ain't so f'n greedy? knr nt