Just The Facts, Ma'am

There's been a lot about genetically modified (GM) stuff in the news lately. I went on a search for studies about genetically modified crops recently. I'm a little freaked out by how much we humans are playing God. I don't think it's going to end well for us.

To be fair, there are a lot of studies out there about how safe GM foods are. There are also a lot of critics. On the other side, there are studies showing how unsafe GM foods are and there are also a lot of critics of those studies. So I just did some reading of my own.

http://www.treehugger.com/organic-beauty/arguments-against-gmos-and-industrial-agriculture.html

 There are oodles of studies that 'prove' that GM foods are safe.

This study's conclusion: "The genetically modified drought-resistant wheat T349 was substantially equivalent to parental wheat in the effects on immune organs and immunologic functions of mice, and it didn't show immunotoxicity."

And this one: "Compared with rats fed the non-GM control diet, some statistically significant differences were observed in rats fed the 3Ø5423×40-3-2 diet. However the differences were not considered treatment-related and commonly fell within the normal ranges of the control group consuming the commercial diet. These results demonstrated that the GM soybean 3Ø5423×40-3-2 is as safe as non-GM soybeans." This seems weird to me ("differences"?), but okay.

This one actually has something good to say about GM soy milk: "GM soy milk with or without probiotic-fermentation can improve hypercholesterolemia and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, and is considered substantially equivalent to non-GM soy milk in terms of these bioactive functions."

And another: "The results demonstrated that BT-38 maize is as safe as conventional non-GM maize."

Another one that bothers me: "No statistically significant differences were found in relative organ weights of rats within groups but there were some minimal histopathological changes in liver and kidney."  I am so glad the writer's of this study were honest and included this information because it is significant to me.

Then there are the studies and articles that deem GM foods not so safe.

This particular study I thought did a great job of wording exactly what I'm worried about: "As genetically modified (GM) foods are starting to intrude in our diet concerns have been expressed regarding GM food safety. These concerns as well as the limitations of the procedures followed in the evaluation of their safety are presented. Animal toxicity studies with certain GM foods have shown that they may toxically affect several organs and systems. The review of these studies should not be conducted separately for each GM food, but according to the effects exerted on certain organs it may help us create a better picture of the possible health effects on human beings. The results of most studies with GM foods indicate that they may cause some common toxic effects such as hepatic, pancreatic, renal, or reproductive effects and may alter the hematological, biochemical, and immunologic parameters. However, many years of research with animals and clinical trials are required for this assessment. The use of recombinant GH or its expression in animals should be re-examined since it has been shown that it increases IGF-1 which may promote cancer."

GM crops affect us externally too. Huff Post has a recent article about how GM crops have led to pesticide resistant pests, which necessitates more pesticide usage. Yummy in my tummy.

The latest study, of course subject to a lot of scrutiny and picking apart (not necessarily a bad thing) concluded that GM foods do hurt rats, and hurt them quite a lot. The study ran for 200 days, about the lifespan of a rat but "Historically, biotech companies have proved the safety of GM crops based on trials involving feeding rats for a period of 90 days." What might be seen as thoroughness by some has also been listed among the problems with the study. One writer basically said that all rats would get cancer by the time they were old.

Another quote from an article about this study: "The world’s best-selling weedkiller, and a genetically modified maize resistant to it, can cause tumours, multiple organ damage and lead to premature death, new research published today reveals."

More: "In the first ever study to examine the long-term effects of Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, or the NK603 Roundup-resistant GM maize also developed by Monsanto, scientists found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, developed mammary tumours and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females, compared with 23 and 14 months respectively for a control group. 'This research shows an extraordinary number of tumours developing earlier and more aggressively - particularly in female animals. I am shocked by the extreme negative health impacts,' said Dr Michael Antoniou, molecular biologist at King’s College London, and a member of CRIIGEN, the independent scientific council which supported the research."

Ultimately, no matter what all the studies say, here is what's bothering me. I can admit that in the end we might really and truly prove that GM products are safe. But the choice to avoid them is being taken away from us. Products with GM foods aren't labeled and aren't required to go through any sort of extra testing (for pesticides maybe?) before being packaged and sold and eaten. The GM crops are mingling with the non-GM crops and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it.

I also feel like we humans are so prideful we forget that we are fallible. An article I found today is about how scientists in New Zealand created a brand new cow (after toying with it's DNA) who can produce 'hypo-allergenic' milk. The cow was also born without a tail, but they're not even sure why: "Scientists at AgResearch’s Ruakura campus were successful in greatly reducing the amount of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), a milk whey protein that is not present in human breast milk and which can cause allergic reactions...To avoid the delay of two years before a natural lactation, the milk the scientists analyzed was from an induced lactation. They only obtained small quantities over a few days for these initial studies. They now want to breed from Daisy and determine the milk composition and yield from a natural lactation. They also want to investigate the origin of Daisy’s taillessness, a rare congenital disease in cows." Sounds great, but I fear stuff like this ends up on the market way before it's truly known what it will do to us.

Let's say we find in the end that GM foods aren't safe and we start dying prematurely and our cancer rates keep sky-rocketing, well, then too bad? It's in everything now? That sucks for us. I'm not sure about GM foods, so I'd rather wait and see, but it's getting harder and harder to avoid.