The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

84 the world according to monsantopoint out, “from a line of embryonic kidney cells grown in the laboratory,which involved no destruction of embryos.” 29“How did you proceed?” I asked.“We put the cells in solutions of Roundup, varying concentrations of theproduct from the most minute, 0.001 percent, up to concentrations used infarming, that is, Roundup diluted to 1 or 2 percent. We also varied exposuretimes to determine the point at which the herbicide had an effect on whatwe call ‘cellular respiration,’ which conditions their production of sex hormones.We found that at levels within regulatory limits, such as residual levelsaccepted in food products like transgenic plants, Roundup literally killedhuman placental cells within a few hours, and human embryonic cells wereeven more sensitive.”Séralini opened his laptop to show me the photographs his team hadtaken of the tests. At first, one could see a string of distinct and transparentcells with a dark spot in the center of each one, the nucleus. After a day ofexposure to Roundup, they had dissolved into a formless dark mass, a “kindof purée,” in Séralini’s words. “In fact,” he explained, “under the effects ofthe product, the cells begin to contract; then, no longer able to breathe properly,they die asphyxiated. And I emphasize that this result occurs at doseswell below those used in farming: for example, in this photograph, theconcentration was 0.05 percent. That’s why I say Roundup is a killer ofembryos. When you use an even weaker concentration—by diluting theproduct bought in a store ten thousand or even a hundred thousand times—you find it no longer kills cells but blocks their production of sex hormones,which is also very serious, because those hormones enable the fetus to developits bones and form its future reproductive system. It can therefore beconcluded that Roundup is also an endocrine disruptor.”“Did you compare the effects of Roundup to those of glyphosate alone?”“Of course! And we found that Roundup is much more toxic than glyphosate,whereas the tests that were the basis for the registration of Roundupwere done with the active ingredient alone. So we contacted the EuropeanAgriculture Commissioner, who recognized that it was a problem, but nothinghas happened since then.”“What did the French authorities say?”“Well, first you should know that it is impossible to get institutional financingfor this kind of research. In France, as in most industrialized countries,there is no interest and thus no money for laboratories to conduct