The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

82 the world according to monsantosome courageous scientists such as Dr. Mae-Wan Ho in the United Kingdomand Professor Joe Cummins in Canada, members of the Institute ofScience in Society, have called for an urgent revision of regulations relatingto the most widely used herbicide in the world. 23 I say “courageous” becauseBellé’s story proves, if any proof were needed, that one does not touch theleading product of a company like Monsanto with impunity.“Obviously, we immediately understood the significance our results mighthave for the use of Roundup,” he explained, since the concentration of theherbicide responsible for the cellular malfunctions was 2,500 times lessthan that recommended for spraying. In fact, a droplet was enough to affectthe process of cell division. Concretely, that means that to use the herbicidewithout risk, you would have not only to wear protective clothing and amask, but also make sure that there was no one in a five hundred yard radius.A little naively, we assumed that Monsanto must not be aware of this,or else these recommendations would be in the directions for use, and wesent them our results even before publishing the study. 24 I have to say wewere very surprised by their reaction. Instead of seriously considering our results,they responded a little aggressively that all the regulatory agencies hadconcluded that the product was not a human carcinogen and that in anyevent, cancer in sea urchins was of no interest to anyone. That is anythingbut a scientific argument. You would think they didn’t even know that thereason the sea urchin model had earned a Nobel Prize for its discoverers wasprecisely because we know that effects measured in a sea urchin cell arecompletely transposable to humans.”“And how did your supervisory bodies, the CNRS [Centre Nationale de laRecherche Scientifique] and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, react?”“To tell the truth, their reaction was even more surprising,” ProfessorBellé answered after a silence. “Some representatives traveled to Roscoff tourge us not to communicate with the mass media, on the pretext that itwould produce a panic.”“How do you explain it?”“The question has troubled me for a long time. Now I think they didn’twant to make waves so as not to hinder the development of GMOs, which,as you know, have been modified to resist Roundup.”“Aren’t you worried about your career?”“I’m no longer afraid of anything,” he said quietly. “I will soon retire andI’m no longer heading the laboratory. That’s why I can let myself talk today.”