Former Pro-GMO Scientist Speaks Out On The Real Dangers of Genetically Engineered Food
I retired 10 years ago after a long career as a research scientist for Agriculture Canada. When I was on the payroll, I was the designated scientist of my institute to address public groups and reassure them that genetically engineered crops and foods were safe. There is, however, a growing body of scientific research – done mostly in Europe, Russia, and other countries – showing that diets containing engineered corn or soya cause serious health problems in laboratory mice and rats.
I don’t know if I was passionate about it but I was knowledgeable. I defended the side of technological advance, of science and progress.
In the last 10 years I have changed my position. I started paying attention to the flow of published studies coming from Europe, some from prestigious labs and published in prestigious scientific journals, that questioned the impact and safety of engineered food.
I refute the claims of the biotechnology companies that their engineered crops yield more, that they require less pesticide applications, that they have no impact on the environment and of course that they are safe to eat.
There are a number of scientific studies that have been done for Monsanto by universities in the U.S., Canada, and abroad. Most of these studies are concerned with the field performance of the engineered crops, and of course they find GMOs safe for the environment and therefore safe to eat.
Individuals should be encouraged to make their decisions on food safety based on scientific evidence and personal choice, not on emotion or the personal opinions of others.
We should all take these studies seriously and demand that government agencies replicate them rather than rely on studies paid for by the biotech companies.
The Bt corn and soya plants that are now everywhere in our environment are registered as insecticides. But are these insecticidal plants regulated and have their proteins been tested for safety? Not by the federal departments in charge of food safety, not in Canada and not in the U.S.
There are no long-term feeding studies performed in these countries to demonstrate the claims that engineered corn and soya are safe. All we have are scientific studies out of Europe and Russia, showing that rats fed engineered food die prematurely.
These studies show that proteins produced by engineered plants are different than what they should be. Inserting a gene in a genome using this technology can and does result in damaged proteins. The scientific literature is full of studies showing that engineered corn and soya contain toxic or allergenic proteins.
Genetic engineering is 40 years old. It is based on the naive understanding of the genome based on the One Gene – one protein hypothesis of 70 years ago, that each gene codes for a single protein. The Human Genome project completed in 2002 showed that this hypothesis is wrong.
The whole paradigm of the genetic engineering technology is based on a misunderstanding. Every scientist now learns that any gene can give more than one protein and that inserting a gene anywhere in a plant eventually creates rogue proteins. Some of these proteins are obviously allergenic or toxic.
I have drafted a reply to Paul Horgen’s letter to the Comox Valley Environmental Council. It is my wish that it goes viral as to educate as many people as possible rapidly. Any and all social media is fine by me. This can also be used as a briefing note for the councilors of AVICC or anywhere else. Thank you for your help.
— Thierry Vrain, Innisfree Farm
I am turning you towards a recent compilation (June 2012) of over 500 government reports and scientific articles published in peer reviewed Journals, some of them with the highest recognition in the world. Like The Lancet in the medical field, or Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, or Biotechnology, or Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, European Journal of Histochemistry, Journal of Proteome Research, etc. This compilation was made by a genetic engineer in London, and an investigative journalist who summarized the gist of the publications for the lay public.
GMO Myths and Truths – an evidence based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops. A report of 120 pages, it can be downloaded for free from Earth Open Source. “GMO Myths and Truths” disputes the claims of the Biotech industry that GM crops yield better and more nutritious food, that they save on the use of pesticides, have no environmental impact whatsoever and are perfectly safe to eat. Genetic pollution is so prevalent in North and South America where GM crops are grown that the fields of conventional and organic grower are regularly contaminated with engineered pollen and losing certification. The canola and flax export market from Canada to Europe (a few hundreds of millions of dollars) were recently lost because of genetic pollution. Did I mention superweeds, when RoundUp crops pass their genes on to RoundUp Resistant weeds. Apparently over 50% of fields in the USA are now infested and the growers have to go back to use other toxic herbicides such as 2-4 D. Many areas of Ontario and Alberta are also infested. The transgenes are also transferred to soil bacteria.
A chinese study published last year shows that an ampicillin resistance transgene was transferred from local engineered crops to soil bacteria, that eventually found their way into the rivers. The transgenes are also transferred to humans. Volunteers who ate engineered soybeans had undigested DNA in their intestine and their bacterial flora was expressing the soybean transgenes in the form of antibiotic resistance. This is genetic pollution to the extreme, particularly when antibiotic resistance is fast becoming a serious global health risk. I can only assume the American Medical Association will soon recognize its poorly informed judgement.
In 2009 the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called for a moratorium of GM foods, safety testing and labeling. Their review of the available literature at the time noted that animals show serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signaling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system. Monsanto writes “There is no need to test the safety of GM foods”. So long as the engineered protein is safe, foods from GM crops are substantially equivalent and they cannot pose any health risks.” The US Food and Drug Administration waived all levels of safety testing in 1996 before approving the commercialization of these crops. Nothing more than voluntary research is necessary, and the FDA does not even want to see the results. And there is certainly no need to publish any of it. If you remember 1996, the year that the first crops were commercialized, the research scientists of the US FDA all predicted that transgenic crops would have unpredictable hard to detect side effects, allergens, toxins, nutritional effects, new diseases. That was published in 2004 in Biotechnology if you recall seeing it.
I know well that Canada does not perform long term feeding studies as they do in Europe. The only study I am aware of from Canada is from the Sherbrooke Hospital in 2011, when doctors found that 93% of pregnant women and 82% of the fetuses tested had the protein pesticide in their blood. This is a protein recognized in its many forms as mildly to severely allergenic. There is no information on the role played by rogue proteins created by the process of inserting transgenes in the middle of a genome. But there is a lot of long term feeding studies reporting serious health problems in mice and rats. The results of the first long term feeding studies of lab rats reported last year in Food and Chemical Toxicology show that they developed breast cancer in mid life and showed kidney and liver damage. The current statistic I read is that North Americans are eating 193 lbs of GMO food on average annually. That includes the children I assume, not that I would use that as a scare tactic. But obviously I wrote at length because I think there is cause for alarm and it is my duty to educate the public.
One argument I hear repeatedly is that nobody has been sick or died after a meal (or a trillion meals since 1996) of GM food. Nobody gets ill from smoking a pack of cigarette either. But it sure adds up, and we did not know that in the 1950s before we started our wave of epidemics of cancer. Except this time it is not about a bit of smoke, it’s the whole food system that is of concern. The corporate interest must be subordinated to the public interest, and the policy of substantial equivalence must be scrapped as it is clearly untrue.
Thierry Vrain is a former research scientist for Agriculture Canada. He now promotes awareness of the dangers of genetically modified foods.
Originally published in: Prevent Disease.
Dr. Thierry Vrain joins 11 other brilliant experts in the GMO Summit. Find out the truth about genetically modified food, and what you can do to protect yourself and your family. Get the GMO Summit Empowerment Package here.
Ken Cook is president and co-founder of the 1.3 million-member Environmental Working Group (EWG). He is one of the environmental community’s most prominent and effective experts on chemicals, pesticides, and U.S. farm and food policy. Ken’s work helped to catalyze the landmark Food Quality Protection Act that required the EPA to consider the dietary risks of pesticides on children’s health. EWG researchers later discovered hundreds of industrial chemicals in umbilical cord blood. By proving that contamination began in the womb, they changed the debate over chemical exposures. Ken will show you how to protect your family and to take informed action on the issues that matter most to you.
Robyn O’Brien was a financial and food industry analyst whose life was turned upside down by her daughters’ sudden allergy-induced illness. Robyn’s love of her kids led her to take an honest look at our food system. What she discovered changed her life forever. She went on to found AllergyKids, and to become one of the most formidable forces in the food movement today. With her wildly popular TED talks, books, magazine columns, and her online advocacy, Robyn has become what the New York Times called “food’s Erin Brockovich“. What she’s uncovered about food allergies – and GMOs – will rock your world!
Andrew Kimbrell is a leading public interest attorney and the founder and director of The Center for Food Safety. He fights to protect people and the environment from the threats of chemical-dependent industrialized agriculture. Andrew is often called on to testify before the United States Congress, and his work has been featured in numerous publications and documentaries. His most recent book is Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food. The Guardian recognized Andrew as one of the 50 people who could change the planet. We think he’ll change your life!
Dr. Michael Hansen is a Senior Staff Scientist with Consumers Union (CU), the publisher of Consumer Reports. Dr. Hansen has served on the USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology, and on the California Department of Food and Agriculture Food Biotechnology Advisory Committee. He represents Consumers International, a federation of more than 250 organizations in 110 countries, at Codex Alimentarius and other international forums, and he has testified in dozens of hearings. As a globally recognized scientist who values peer reviewed published data, and with a responsibility to stand independent of special interest agendas, Dr. Hansen will give you fact-based insight on GMO science.
Rachel Parent is a 14-year old Canadian activist and founder of the organization, Kids Right To Know, which raises awareness about urgent environmental issues affecting youth. Pro-GMO CBC business news co-host Kevin O’Leary invited Rachel on his show for a debate. The segment has been seen by more than 1.8 million people, and launched Rachel into the international spotlight. Rachel has since been lauded as the youngest rising star of the anti-GMO movement. Rachel will share her insights on helping kids understand GMOs, and how to debate the topic with anyone who disagrees with you. If you have kids or know any, this is an inspirational interview not to be missed!
Claire Robinson is research director at Earth Open Source and editor for GMWatch. She is the former managing editor of SpinProfiles (now Powerbase.org), and is an investigative reporter on public health, science, and environmental issues. Claire is not only up-to-date on events relative to GMOs, she is often the root source for where many in the movement get their information. If you want to know the political, socio-economic, scientifically proven, historically accurate, and up-to-date facts about GMOs, this interview is not to be missed.
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Dr. Stephanie Seneff is a Senior Research Scientist at MIT. She has published over 170 refereed articles on themes of food and health, and supervised numerous Master’s and PhD theses at MIT. In a ground-breaking paper she and Anthony Samsel published in the peer-reviewed journal Entropy, Stephanie showed how the active ingredient in Roundup may be far more damaging than is commonly recognized.From the grass our children play on to the genetically engineered “Roundup ready” crops many of us eat, RoundUp is almost everywhere. In this shocking and informative presentation, Dr. Seneff illumines the very serious dangers of this product.
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In his ground-breaking paper that was published in the peer-reviewed journal Entropy, independent researcher Anthony Samsel shows how the active ingredient in Roundup may be promoting cancer, infertility, diabetes, obesity, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, MS and many of the diseases associated with the modern Western diet. During this presentation, you will find out which illnesses may be related to the active ingredients used in the very popular Roundup herbicide, and what you can do to avoid unintentionally ingesting foods that carry it.
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Do you have animal companions in your life? It turns out that genetically engineered food doesn’t just affect humans. Just ask Dr. Richard Palmquist, a highly respected veterinarian who has found extraordinary results when he prescribes GMO-free diets for pets. Richard is chief of integrative health services at Centinela Animal Hospital in Inglewood, California and a past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. He is also author of Releasing Your Pet’s Hidden Health Potential. You’ll find about recent discoveries in pet health, including how GMOs could be linked to itching, diahrrea, allergies and fatigue. And you’ll find out about alternatives that could make a huge difference to the animals you love!
Jeremy Seifert, film director-turned-activist, speaks on humanitarian and environmental issues around the world. He began his quest to understand the GMO issue after having learned that Haitian farmers burned seeds offered by Monsanto. He travelled to Haiti to understand what these seeds were and why an impoverished country, further devastated by an earthquake, would reject them. Thus began Jeremy’s life-changing journey, documented in the new hit film, GMO OMG.
GMOs have been touted as an answer to everything from pesticide use to droughts to topsoil erosion. But are these claims justified? Find out from one of the world’s top experts on sustainable agriculture, Dr. Miguel Aliteri. Miguel has been a Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley for more than three decades, and has served as General Coordinator for the United Nations Development Program’s Sustainable Agriculture Networking and Extension Program. He is author of more than 200 publications and books including Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture and Biodiversity. If you care about the planet, and you want the facts about sustainable agriculture, then this is for you.
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