A new paper, 'Genetic Engineering and Omitted Health Research: Still No Answers to Ageing Questions' is highly recommended.
The paper points out that many scientific questions concerning health effects of GMOs that were raised 20 years ago still remain unanswered.
The paper discusses - in remarkably clear and readable terms - the health hazards related to genetically engineered (GE) plants used as food or feed, with mention of GE vaccines including si RNA- and nanobio-technologies.
Amongst the many points the authors note:
*very few studies on the possible effects of GE food/feed on potential animal or human consumers have been published in peer-reviewed journals
*a consensus has emerged that the effects observed in some published studies must be experimentally followed up but THIS HAS NOT BEEN DONE.
*most of the animal feeding studies performed so far have been designed exclusively to reveal only husbandry production differences [eg do animals gain weight satisfactorily on a GE feed compared to a non-GE feed?]
*studies designed to reveal physiological or pathological effects are extremely few
*these studies demonstrate a quite worrisome trend - studies performed by the industry find no problems, while studies from independent research groups often reveal effects that should merit immediate follow-up, confirmation and extension
*such follow-up studies have not been performed
*studies are inhibited by lack of funds for independent research
*studies are also inhibited by the reluctance of producers to deliver their GE materials for analysis
*the transgenic DNA sequences provided by GE food/feed producers can't be relied on
*the transgenic DNA sequences provided can differ from the inserted sequences found in the actual genetically engineered plants
*transgenic modification techniques can result in either degradation of the incoming DNA, or insertion of rearranged copies into the plant DNA
*some genetic elements in the introduced genetic constructs may act as "hotspots" for recombination
*among other rearrangments, rearranged transgenic fragments may be found scattered through the genome
*the diffferences between the transgenic DNA sequences given by producers and the actual inserted sequences found in their products means that risk assessments made prior to approval do not necessarily cover the potential risks associated with the products
*if transgenic DNA and proteins are taken up from mammalian gastro-intestinal tracts, instead of being degraded during digestion, this could lead to chronic diseases
*only two published reports have investigated the fate of foreign/transgenic DNA in humans
*the consequences of DNA persistence and uptake represent yet another area of omitted research
*some recent publications have demonstrated that foreign DNA and also proteins may escape degradation, to persist in the gastro-intestinal tracts and even to be taken up from the intestines and transported by the blood to internal organs in biologically meaningful versions
*allergenicity is a major concern with genetically engineered foods
*tests for allergenicity are usually carried out with bacteria and not with the versions of the transgenic protein which people are exposed to, ie the actual protein produced in genetically engineered plants
*the Bt-toxins expressed in genetically engineered plants have never been carefully analysed, and accordingly, their characteristics and properties are not known
The authors conclude, "We are left with a high number of risk issues lacking answers, adding up to a vast area of omitted research, and this falls together in time with a strong tendency towards corporate take-over of publicly funded research institutions and scientists."
To read the article in full (including references) online, go to: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7219
To download the article in full in Word or PDF formats go to:
http://www.biosafety-info.net/file_dir/719762120455431f1a3942.pdf