Say No To GMO's (biotech food)

http://www.saynotogmos.org/ud2005/ujun05b.html#afraid Very interesting REFERENCES available below, not in published article (click on title above for link to full article without references as published by a newsletter): WORLD HUNGER: UNITED NATIONS: THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME http://www.wfp.org/aboutwfp/introduction/hunger_causes.asp?section=1&sub_section=1 UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/89259/index.htmlhttp://www.fao.org/DOCREP/FIELD/006/AD690E/AD690E00.HTM FAO: 'Agricultural production could probably meet expected demand until 2030 even without major advances in modern biotechnology.' " (The New Scientist, by Debora MacKenzie, March 4, 2003.) EXPERT CAUTIONS: USA TODAY/REUTERS report on European attitudes toward GMOs: http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~steggall/10Jan-18May2000.html More on European distrust of government food regulations based on mishandling of other food crises: New Scientist, "Young, not Mad", July 8, 2000, p.5. The editors of the respected UK medical journal The Lancet have strongly criticized the presumption that GE foods entail no greater risks of unexpected effects. They stated there are "good reasons to believe that specific risks may exist" and that "governments should never have allowed these products into the food chain without insisting on rigorous testing for effects on health." Vol. 353, No. 9167, p. 1811 (May 29, 1999). The January 2001 report of the expert panel of the Royal Society of Canada states that (a) it is "scientifically unjustifiable" to presume that GE foods are safe and (b) the "default presumption" for every GE food should be that the genetic alteration has induced unintended and potentially hazardous side effects. The Royal Society of Canada: Expert Panel on the Future of Food Biotechnology: Elements of Precaution: Recommendations for the Regulation of Food Biotechnology in Canada www.rsc.ca/foodbiotechnology/indexEN.html and http://www.rsc.ca//files/publications/expert_panels/foodbiotechnology/GMreportEN.pdf DO GMO CROPS LOWER CHEMICAL USE? Herbicides lose effectiveness only 2-3 years after planting herbicide-resistant biotech crops:'Resistance is useless', New Scientist, 19 February 2000, p. .21. Extensive evidence shows that farmers who plant crops that are genetically engineered to resist the herbicide Roundup are now applying more of it to their fields. (Dr. Charles Benbrook, Pesticide Outlook, October 2001, Pages 204-207.) NUTRIENT DIFFERENCES IN GMOS: Lappe MA, Bailey EB, Childress C, Setchell C. Alterations in clinically important phytoestrogens in genetically modified herbicide-tolerant soybeans. J Medic Food 1999; 1: 241-43. The Monsanto analyses of glyphosate-resistant soya showed that the GM-line contained about 28% more Kunitz trypsin inhibitor, a known antinutrient and allergen: "GM Food Debate" Letters re: the Pusztai and Ewen publication, The Lancet. Volume 354, Number 9191. November 13, 1998 Recent investigation by scientists at Japan's Nagoya University reveals that Monsanto's data on the "Roundup Ready" soybean actually shows important differences between it and its conventional counterpart. For instance, after heat processing of both the GE and non-GE beans, the concentrations of three harmful substances were significantly higher in the GE samples.(Technology and Human Beings, Nov.2000, p24-33) CROP YIELD AND QUALITY: A dramatic increase in root-knot nematode susceptibility was seen in the transgenic cultivar:Patrick D. Colyer,* Terrence L. Kirkpatrick, W. David Caldwell, and Philip R. Vernon. Plant Pathology and Nematology: Root-Knot Nematode Reproduction and Root Galling Severity on Related Conventional and Transgenic Cotton Cultivars. The Journal of Cotton Science 4:232-236 (2000) Anthan, George. “Genetic Changes Affect More Than Yield.” Des Moines Register. June 18, 2000. The Independent, London, June 11/ Geoffrey Lean Elmore et al, "Glyphosate-Resistant Soybean Cultivar Yields Compared with Sister Lines", Agron J 2001 93: 408-412 Evidence of the Magnitude and Consequences of the Roundup Ready Soybean Yield Drag from University-Based Varietal Trials in 1998. By Dr. Charles Benbrook, Benbrook Consulting Services, Sandpoint, Idaho http://www.biotech-info.net/RR_yield_drag_98.pdf UNRESOLVED SAFETY ISSUES: Playing God in the Garden' by Michael Pollan The New York Times Sunday Magazine (October 25th 1998). http://www.organics.org/features/god_garden.htm Genetically modified foods & health: a second interim statement. British Medical Association Board of Science and Education. March 2004 http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/GMFoods Ho MW, Ryan A and Cummins J. Cauliflower mosaic viral promoter – a recipe for Disaster? Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 1999 11, 194-7. Ho MW, Ryan A and Cummins J. Hazards of transgenic plants with the cauliflower mosaic viral promoter. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 2000, 12, 6-11. "Astonishing denial of transgenic contamination" by Mae-Wan Ho, Science in Society 2002, 15, 13-14. Netherwood T, Martin-Orue SM, O'Donnell AG, Gockling S, Gilbert HJ and Mathers JC. Transgenes in genetically modified Soya survive passage through the small bowel but are completely degraded in the colon. Technical report on the Food Standards Agency project G010008 "Evaluating the risks associated with using GMOs in human foods"- University of Newcastle. Doerfler, W. and Schubbert, R. (1998). Uptake of foreign DNA from the environment: the gastroinestinal tract and the placenta as portals of entry, Wien Klin Wochenschr. 110, 40-44.p. 40. Ferguson GC and Heinemann JA. Recent history of trans-kingdom conjugation. In Horizontal Gene Transfer 2nd ed. (ed. M Syvanen & CI Kado), pp 3-17, Academic Press, San Diego, 2002. UK Food Standards Agency: GM crop DNA found in human gut bugs http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/rowett1.pdf Cellini F, Chesson A, Colquhoun I, Constable A, Davies HV, Engel KH, Gatehouse AM, Karenlampi S, Kok EJ, Leguay JJ, Lehesranta S, Noteborn HP, Pedersen J, Smith M. Unintended effects and their detection in genetically modified crops. Food Chem Toxicol. 2004 Jul;42(7):1089-125. Review. PMID: 15123383 Taylor SL, Hefle SL. Will genetically modified foods be allergenic? J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2001 May;107(5):765-71. Review. PMID: 11344340 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS: Herbicide tolerance can spread from biotech crops to weeds:Sample, Ian, "Modified crops could corrupt weedy cousins", New Scientist, 15 July 2000, p.6. Calif. county voters ban biotech crops, animals. The Associated Press http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4438280/ Vacher C, Weis AE, Hermann D, Kossler T, Young C, Hochberg ME. Impact of ecological factors on the initial invasion of Bt transgenes into wild populations of birdseed rape (Brassica rapa). Theor Appl Genet. 2004 Aug;109(4):806-14. Epub 2004 May 5. PMID: 15340690 Haygood R, Ives AR, Andow DA. Consequences of recurrent gene flow from crops to wild relatives.Proc Biol Sci. 2003 Sep 22;270(1527):1879-86. PMID: 14561300 Gepts P, Papa R. Possible effects of (trans)gene flow from crops on the genetic diversity from landraces and wild relatives. Environ Biosafety Res. 2003 Apr-Jun;2(2):89-103. PMID: 15612275 Arnaud JF, Viard F, Delescluse M, Cuguen J. Evidence for gene flow via seed dispersal from crop to wild relatives in Beta vulgaris (Chenopodiaceae): consequences for the release of genetically modified crop species with weedy lineages. Proc Biol Sci. 2003 Aug 7;270(1524):1565-71. PMID: 12908976 Spencer LJ, Snow AA. Fecundity of transgenic wild-crop hybrids of Cucurbita pepo (Cucurbitaceae): implications for crop-to-wild gene flow. Heredity. 2001 Jun;86(Pt 6):694-702. PMID: 11595050 Ellstrand NC. Current knowledge of gene flow in plants: implications for transgene flow. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2003 Jun 29;358(1434):1163-70. Review. PMID: 12831483 Jenczewski E, Ronfort J, Chevre AM. Crop-to-wild gene flow, introgression and possible fitness effects of transgenes. Environ Biosafety Res. 2003 Jan-Mar;2(1):9-24. Review. PMID: 15615064 Gressel J. Tandem constructs: preventing the rise of superweeds. Trends Biotechnol. 1999 Sep;17(9):361-6. Review. PMID: 10461182 Dunfield KE, Germida JJ. Impact of genetically modified crops on soil- and plant-associated microbial communities. J Environ Qual. 2004 May-Jun;33(3):806-15. Review. PMID: 15224914 Giovannetti M. The ecological risks of transgenic plants. Riv Biol. 2003 May-Aug;96(2):207-23. Review. PMID: 14595899 ETHICAL CONCERNS & MISC. DANGERS: The USDA co-owned the original patent on Terminator genes:http://www.nal.usda.gov/bic/monsan~1.htm USDA regulations on introducing new biotech crops:http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/notgen.html