GMO Myths and Truths

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there was no centralized reporting system. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analyzed reports that had reached it and asked the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to investigate just 28 cases that met its criteria. CDC carried out tests on blood serum taken from these people but concluded that the findings did not provide evidence that the allergic reactions were associated with the Cry9C protein. 81 However, there were problems with the CDC investigation, many of which were identified by the researchers themselves. For example, the control group of serum was obtained from blood samples taken before the 1996 release of StarLink. Yet this serum showed a more dramatic allergic response to Cry9C than the serum from people who had reported allergic reactions to StarLink. 81 The researchers stated that this is common in samples that have been frozen and stored, as the control samples had been. But they expressed no concern that this would skew the results towards a false conclusion of no effect from StarLink. Neither did they replace the problem control samples with more reliable ones – for example, samples freshly taken from people who were unlikely to have been exposed to StarLink. CDC’s test and findings were reviewed by a panel convened by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – which criticised them on several grounds. The panel pointed out that the CDC researchers had isolated the Cry9C protein from E. coli bacteria rather than from StarLink maize. So the protein tested would have been different from the Cry9C protein suspected of causing allergic reactions. 82 Specifically, the Cry9C protein from E. coli bacteria would have lacked sugar molecules, which would have been attached through a process called glycosylation to the same protein derived from maize. Glycosylation can be crucial in eliciting an allergic reaction. CDC’s use of the incorrect protein invalidates its analysis and conclusions. The seriousness of CDC’s error in using E. coli- rather than maize-derived Cry9C protein is graphically illustrated by the study on GM peas containing an insecticidal protein from beans (see 3.1.1). 4 The study found marked changes in the pattern of sugar molecules on the insecticidal protein expressed in the GM peas, as compared with its native form in beans. The authors concluded that this change in the nature and structure of the sugar molecules was the reason why the GM insecticidal protein caused immune and allergic-type inflammation reactions in mice. This case shows that it is necessary to derive the GM protein being studied from the GM crop rather than an unrelated source, as sugar molecule patterns will differ and the potential to cause immune and allergic reactions could vary significantly between the two. Furthermore, the EPA panel criticised the CDC’s test for its lack of proper controls. It also questioned the methodology and sensitivity of the test used. The EPA panel concluded, “The test, as conducted, does not eliminate StarLink Cry9C protein as a potential cause of allergic symptoms”. The panel’s verdict was that there is a “medium likelihood” that the Cry9C protein is an allergen. 82 3.5.2. Conclusion Claims that no one has been made ill by a GM crop or food are scientifically unjustifiable, since no epidemiological studies have been carried out. However, the cases of L-trypophan produced with GM bacteria and StarLink maize give cause for concern. GMO Myths and Truths 50
3.6 Myth: GM Bt insecticidal crops only harm insects and are harmless to animals and people Truth: GM Bt insecticidal crops pose hazards to people and animals that eat them Many GM crops are engineered to produce Bt toxin, a type of insecticide. Bt toxin in its natural, non-GM form is derived from a common soil bacterium and is used as an insecticidal spray in chemically-based and organic farming. Regulators have approved GM Bt crops on the assumption that the GM Bt toxin is the same as the natural Bt toxin, which they say has a history of safe use. They conclude that GM crops engineered to contain Bt insecticidal protein must also be harmless. But this is false, for the following reasons: ● Natural Bt toxin is not necessarily the same as the Bt toxin expressed by GM Bt plants. The Bt toxin protein in GM plants may be truncated or otherwise modified. For example, there is at least a 40% difference between the toxin in Bt176 maize (formerly commercialised in the EU, now withdrawn) and natural Bt toxin. 11 Such changes can mean that they have very different effects on people or animals that eat them. Prions (the folded proteins found in BSEinfected cows), venoms, and hormones, are all proteins, but are far from harmless. 83 ● The natural Bt toxin used in insecticidal sprays behaves differently in the environment from the Bt toxin produced in GM plants. Natural Bt breaks down rapidly in daylight and only becomes active (and toxic) in the gut of the insect that eats it. It does not persist in the environment and so is unlikely to find its way into animals or people that eat the crop. With GM Bt crops, however, the plant is engineered to express the Bt toxin protein in active form in every cell. In other words, the plant itself becomes a pesticide, and people and animals that eat the plant are eating a pesticide. ● Even natural Bt toxin has been found to have negative health effects. In farm workers, exposure to Bt sprays was found to lead to allergic skin sensitisation and immune responses. 84 And laboratory studies found that natural Bt toxin has ill effects on mammals, producing a potent immune response and enhancing the immune response to other substances. 85,86,87 ● Safety tests for regulatory purposes are generally not carried out on the Bt toxin protein as expressed in the GM plant. The Bt toxin protein that is tested is usually derived from genetically engineered E. coli bacteria, as GM companies find it too difficult and expensive to extract enough Bt toxin from the GM crop itself. As we have seen, the GM process gives rise to unexpected changes in the desired protein, so it cannot be assumed that the Bt toxin protein derived from E. coli bacteria is the same as the protein derived from the GM plant that people and animals will eat. Indeed, the US Environmental Protection Agency, in its review of the commercialised Monsanto GM maize MON810, said it produces a “truncated” version of the protein – in other words, a protein that is not the same as the natural form. 60 Such changes can make a protein more toxic or allergenic. 3.6.1. Bt toxin does not only affect insect pests GM proponents claim that the Bt toxin engineered into GM Bt crops only affects the target pests and is harmless to mammals, including people or animals that eat the crops. 88 Based on this assumption, regulators do not require human toxicity studies on GM Bt crops. But the assumption is incorrect. In a 2012 test-tube (in vitro) study, genetically engineered Bt toxins were found to be toxic to human cells. One type of Bt toxin killed human cells at the dose of 100 parts per million. The findings showed that GM Bt toxin does affect humans, contrary to claims from the GM lobby and regulators. 83 The GM lobby responded by saying that in vitro studies do not accurately reflect what happens in a living human or animal that eats GM Bt crops. But GMO Myths and Truths 51
Page 1 and 2: GMO Myths and Truths An evidence-ba
Page 3 and 4: About the authors Michael Antoniou,
Page 5 and 6: 3.1.5. Regulators currently do not
Page 7 and 8: Truth: Co-existence means widesprea
Page 9 and 10: 1. THE GENETIC ENGINEERING TECHNIQU
Page 11 and 12: 1.2 Myth: Genetic engineering is pr
Page 13 and 14: ornamental plants. 9 It also includ
Page 15 and 16: successfully incorporate the GM gen
Page 17 and 18: “conventionally bred” varieties
Page 19 and 20: inspection. Their scrutiny cannot e
Page 21 and 22: Conclusion to Section 1 GM proponen
Page 23 and 24: 2. SCIENCE AND REGULATION 2.1 Myth:
Page 25 and 26: of a protein (prion), a difference
Page 27 and 28: data on GMOs available on the Inter
Page 29 and 30: 2.1.8. GM corporations and the US g
Page 31 and 32: the defamation and intimidation cam
Page 33 and 34: lacked proper controls. Both claims
Page 35 and 36: 18. Pusztai A, Bardocz S, Ewen SWB.
Page 37 and 38: 3. HEALTH HAZARDS OF GM FOODS 3.1 M
Page 39 and 40: their lambs showed cellular changes
Page 41 and 42: well known to have different effect
Page 43 and 44: developing multi-trait crops becaus
Page 45 and 46: 3.2.2. Schrøder (2007) 23 A study
Page 47 and 48: 3.4 Myth: GM foods have been proven
Page 49: However, the authors of a 1990 stud
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Page 55 and 56: acute allergenicity problems to a l
Page 57 and 58: 3.9 Myth: Genetic engineering will
Page 59 and 60: poor and hungry in the Global South
Page 61 and 62: 30. European Food Safety Authority
Page 63 and 64: sheep and pigs fed Roundup Ready ca
Page 65 and 66: 4.1 Myth: Roundup is a safe herbici
Page 67 and 68: 100% of air and rain samples taken
Page 69 and 70: 11. Romano RM, Romano MA, Bernardi
Page 71 and 72: “Over the past decade, corporate
Page 73 and 74: supposedly high-yielding GM soybean
Page 75 and 76: often use more glyphosate herbicide
Page 77 and 78: 5.4 Myth: GM Bt crops reduce insect
Page 79 and 80: has called GM crops “pesticide pl
Page 81 and 82: 5.6 Myth: Roundup is a benign and b
Page 83 and 84: fixation and reduce the growth of r
Page 85 and 86: 5.9 Myth: GM crops bring economic b
Page 87 and 88: 5.10 Myth: GM crops can “coexist
Page 89 and 90: 5.11 Myth: If GM contamination occu
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Page 95 and 96: emergence of resistant and secondar
Page 97 and 98: mycorrhizal symbiosis in experiment
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6.1 Myth: GM will deliver climate-r
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6.3 Myth: GM will solve the nitroge
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Agriculture cannot continue to depe
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7.1 Myth: GM crops are needed to fe
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A 2003 report on the project calcul
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Previously, agricultural markets we
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and the Caribbean have found that o
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7.3 Myth: GM is needed to provide t
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King produced this example when und
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IAASTD report, commissioned by the
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LifeScientist. 12 March 2012. http:
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mixtures of chemicals in an attempt
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GMO Myths and Truths

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