GMO Myths and Truths

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Genetically modified (GM) crops are promoted on the basis of a range of far-reaching claims from the GM crop industry and its supporters. They say that GM crops: ● Are an extension of natural breeding and do not pose different risks from naturally bred crops ● Are safe to eat and can be more nutritious than naturally bred crops ● Are strictly regulated for safety ● Increase crop yields ● Reduce pesticide use ● Benefit farmers and make their lives easier ● Bring economic benefits ● Benefit the environment ● Can help solve problems caused by climate change ● Reduce energy use ● Will help feed the world. However, a large and growing body of scientific and other authoritative evidence shows that these claims are not true. On the contrary, evidence presented in this report indicates that GM crops: ● Are laboratory-made, using technology that is totally different from natural breeding methods, and pose different risks from non-GM crops ● Can be toxic, allergenic or less nutritious than their natural counterparts ● Are not adequately regulated to ensure safety ● Do not increase yield potential ● Do not reduce pesticide use but increase it ● Create serious problems for farmers, including herbicide-tolerant “superweeds”, compromised soil quality, and increased disease susceptibility in crops ● Have mixed economic effects ● Harm soil quality, disrupt ecosystems, and reduce biodiversity ● Do not offer effective solutions to climate change ● Are as energy-hungry as any other chemically-farmed crops ● Cannot solve the problem of world hunger but distract from its real causes – poverty, lack of access to food and, increasingly, lack of access to land to grow it on. Based on the evidence presented in this report, there is no need to take risks with GM crops when effective, readily available, and sustainable solutions to the problems that GM technology is claimed to address already exist. Conventional plant breeding, in some cases helped by safe modern technologies like gene mapping and marker assisted selection, continues to outperform GM in producing high-yield, drought-tolerant, and pest- and disease-resistant crops that can meet our present and future food needs. GMO Myths and Truths 8
1. THE GENETIC ENGINEERING TECHNIQUE 1.1 Myth: Genetic engineering is just an extension of natural breeding Truth: Genetic engineering is different from natural breeding and poses special risks GM proponents claim that genetic engineering is just an extension of natural plant breeding. They say that GM crops are no different from naturally bred crops, apart from the inserted foreign GM gene (transgene) and its protein product. But this is misleading. GM is completely different from natural breeding and poses different risks. Natural breeding can only take place between closely related forms of life (e.g. cats with cats, not cats with dogs; wheat with wheat, not wheat with tomatoes or fish). In this way, the genes that carry information for all parts of the organism are passed down the generations in an orderly way. In contrast, GM is a laboratory-based technique that is completely different from natural breeding. The main stages of the genetic modification process are as follows: 1. In a process known as tissue culture or cell culture, tissue from the plant that is to be genetically modified is placed in culture. 2. Millions of the tissue cultured plant cells are subjected to the GM gene insertion process. This results in the GM gene(s) being inserted into the DNA of a few of the plant cells in tissue culture. The inserted DNA is intended to re-programme the cells’ genetic blueprint, conferring completely new properties on the cell. This process is carried out either by using a device known as a gene gun, which shoots the GM gene into the plant cells, or by linking the GM gene to a special piece of DNA present in the soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Section at a glance u Genetic engineering is completely different from natural breeding and entails different risks. The genetic engineering and associated tissue culture processes are imprecise and highly mutagenic, leading to unpredictable changes in the DNA, proteins, and biochemical composition of the resulting GM crop that can lead to unexpected toxic or allergenic effects and nutritional disturbances. u Foods produced by cisgenic or intragenic methods are as hazardous as any other GM crop. u It is misleading to compare GM with radiation-induced mutation breeding and to conclude that, as crops bred by the latter method are not tested for safety or regulated, neither should GM crops be tested or regulated. Radiation-induced mutation breeding is potentially even more mutagenic than GM, and at least as destructive to gene expression, and crops produced by this method should be regulated at least as strictly as GM crops. u It is unnecessary to take risks with GM when conventional breeding – assisted by safe modern gene mapping technologies – is capable of meeting our crop breeding needs. When the A. tumefaciens infects a plant, the GM gene is carried into the cells and can insert into the plant cell’s DNA. 3. At this point in the process, the genetic engineers have a tissue culture consisting of hundreds of thousands to millions of plant cells. Some have picked up the GM gene(s), while others have not. The next step is to treat the culture with chemicals to eliminate all except those cells that have successfully incorporated the GM gene into their own DNA. 4. Finally, the few cells that survive the chemical treatment are treated with plant hormones. The GMO Myths and Truths 9
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: Truth: Co-existence means widesprea
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
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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
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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 and 50: However, the authors of a 1990 stud
Page 51 and 52: 3.6 Myth: GM Bt insecticidal crops
Page 53 and 54: 3.7 Myth: GM foods are properly tes
Page 55 and 56: acute allergenicity problems to a l
Page 57 and 58: 3.9 Myth: Genetic engineering will
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poor and hungry in the Global South
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30. European Food Safety Authority
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sheep and pigs fed Roundup Ready ca
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4.1 Myth: Roundup is a safe herbici
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100% of air and rain samples taken
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11. Romano RM, Romano MA, Bernardi
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“Over the past decade, corporate
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supposedly high-yielding GM soybean
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often use more glyphosate herbicide
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5.4 Myth: GM Bt crops reduce insect
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has called GM crops “pesticide pl
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5.6 Myth: Roundup is a benign and b
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fixation and reduce the growth of r
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5.9 Myth: GM crops bring economic b
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5.10 Myth: GM crops can “coexist
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5.11 Myth: If GM contamination occu
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acterium, thereby creating a “sup
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een found to be unreliable and inco
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emergence of resistant and secondar
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mycorrhizal symbiosis in experiment
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Canada: Organic Agriculture Protect
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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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