agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats

[Pharaoh]

"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."

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


:dem: :dem: :dem:

[derby378]

1. Sic 'em. (n/t)

:grr:

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Now . . . NOW are we going to get this stuff banned?!

[Pharaoh]

3. unfortunately

the GM monster is infecting regular crops and likely one of multiple reasons that the bee's are disappearing.

[bluesmail]

11. I wonder, the more GM's a person eats over say 5-10 years, does it

inhibit the brain's ability to discover, ah ha It is the culprit! The GM's!

[Pharaoh]

4. amazingly

someone just un recd this.

Whats up with that?

[reggie the dog]

5. they are paid to post by monsanto???

Biotech, is godzilla!

[Echo In Light]

6. Because people like you bring unfavorable attention to any powerful org/business

That is precisely what's usually being 'defended' when rabid Conspiracy Theory naysayers attack those they relegate as "crazy," even though those types utilize different window dressing

[Subdivisions]

9. +1000. n/t

[formercia]

7. Money over Truth.

Monsanto isn't squeamish when it comes to steamrolling the opposition.

[bvar22]

8. Obama's Secretary of Agriculture has "close ties" to Monsanto.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Crony-of-agriculture-chief-now-a-Monsanto-lobbyist-8612856-78264977.html

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/22-14

Judge for yourself.

[Sebastian Doyle]

16. Yes, VilSUCK has "close ties" to MonSatan, in pretty much the same way

that Monica had "close ties" to Bill. Which is why I call him VilSUCK.

[Duer 157099]

10. So when we're all dead because a few greedy bastards got control

I'll laugh at how short-sighted those assholes were.

Cynical much? Yes. 100% cynical nowadays. Thanks Monsanto, et al.

[amborin]

12. K&R and:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=226013&mesg_id=226013

[gratuitous]

13. Wouldn't it be nice to have GM food labeled?

That way, consumers could choose whether they consumed food products that were grown using classic hybrid techniques or created in a laboratory. Ah well, that's just a bunch of tree-hugging, dirty fucking hippiespeak designed to hurt poor little companies like Monsanto, which can barely survive in the dog-eat-dog marketplace.

[Pharaoh]

15. High fructose corn syrup

It's in practically everything. Totally GM corn compressed into a very sweet sugar like product.

[Canuckistanian]

14. They should test GMO foods on Monsanto executives

That way, if they die from excruciating maladies, there'd be no loss to humanity.

It's entirely ethical.

[Sebastian Doyle]

17. Can we throw in the health insurance executives too?

And the Wall $treet criminals? :evilgrin:

[HeresyLives]

18. This is simply not true.

GM foods have as many deniers as climate change does.

[Pharaoh]

19. ???

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[HeresyLives]

20. Sorry...join the climate deniers as anti-science.

[glitch]

26. Anti-logic. nt

[Ignis]

29. So, the study never happened?

This link says otherwise, but I'd take it up with the IJBS if you think the study was a fraud and should not have been published:

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

:shrug:

[CLANG]

21. K&R !!!!

[troubledamerican]

22. corn = corn syrup = cereal, ketchup, soda drinks, Minute Maid juice products, et al

[Mind_your_head]

23. we're all rats now. n/t

[MisterP]

24. I can already hear the rumbling of the PR industry's printers and servers gearing up

soon Bruce Ames will be by, telling us that regular corn kills 800,000 a year and that Monsanto will save your soul from the eternal hellfire of the organic market down the lane
Donna Haraway will tell us that it's fear of dark-skinned people and women that's driving a fascistic desire for pure genes
some DUer will bring up cattle breeding and vaccinations--or maybe just throw their feces against the wall, since that requires the same intellect

[pleah]

25. K&R Monsanto = Evil n/t

[glinda]

27. Monsanto needs to be reigned in.

[thereismore]

28. Thank you Monsanto for solving the rat problem!

:sarcasm:

People won't be far behind. I am sure Monsanto execs and their beautiful families eat organic.

[HeresyLives]

30. Science buffet on here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food_controversies#Controversial_cases

I find it amazing that DU loves science when it supports climate change, but hates it when it supports GM food.

[JoeyT]

31. Actually if you read the study

the genetic modification isn't the actual problem.
The problem is they modified the corn to be resistant to Roundup and they're using so freaking much of it that the food is retaining a lot. Which really shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. After all, if plants didn't absorb Roundup it wouldn't kill them. And eating something that can kill kudzu probably isn't a good idea either.

Edited to add: Story can be found http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm">here.

Also from the study:

The quantity of some sugars, ions, salts, and pesticide residues, do in fact differ from line to line, for example in the non-GM reference groups. This not only introduced unnecessary sources of variability but also increased considerably the number of rats fed a normal non-GM diet (320) compared to the GM-fed groups (80) per transformation event, which considerably unbalances the experimental design. A group consisting of the same number of animals fed a mixture of these test diets would have been a better and more appropriate control. In addition, no data is shown to demonstrate that the diets fed to the control and reference groups were indeed free of GM feed.

That right there is the very people that conducted the study admitting to flaws in the study that could easily have thrown the results.