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1.Panel rejects GM corn, cancer link
2.Panels reject study on GM corn but urge wider probes


NOTE: Despite the rush to dismiss Prof. Gilles-Eric Seralini's GM maize paper, there's a growing recognition of the need for long-term studies of the sort he conducted on Monsanto's GM maize NK603.


Even the attack on Seralini at the end of last week issued in the name of France's six science academies had the following sentence tucked away in its conclusions and recommendations:

"The issues raised need to be studied by reputable researchers, not suspected of conflict of interest, and funded under public control." (p3 of this translation)
 http://www.slideshare.net/Revkin/translation-of-french-science-academies-critique-of-controversial-gm-corn-study
Today, Seralini's paper has again been denigrated. This time by France's High Council on Biotechnology, as reported below. But even though the High Council has drawn criticism for its alleged lack of independence, it appears not to have gone as far as completely dismissing the need for studies like Seralini's:

"...the study is not conclusive. However, in order to answer the public's questions, the committee recommends that a long-term,
independent, transparent study, with adversarial views, be undertaken under government auspices."

And there seems to be growing recognition that whether Seralini's research is accepted or not, it does point to important gaps in
scientific knowledge.

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), which has also issued a report today dismissing Seralini's paper, notes that Seralini's study does tackle a subject that has been little studied till now: that of  the long-term effects of GMOs associated with pesticides. And it calls for the mobilization of national and European public funding dedicated to studies and extensive research into improving the knowledge about such health risks, which have till now been inadequately documented.

 http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/ogm-le-scandale/20121022.OBS6490/ogm-deux-concusions-sur-l-etude-seralini-lundi.html

(article in French)

 http://fr.reuters.com/article/frEuroRpt/idFRL5E8LM7OY20121022?sp=true
(article in French)

This recognition of the need for long term studies is also, therefore, an indirect criticism of the failure of the dossiers used to approve GM foods to provide adequate supporting evidence for their safety.

And Seralini's supporters point out that by the standards being used to dismiss Seralini's study, the studies that have been used as the basis for GM food approvals would fail even more decisively.

In other words, those rushing to declare Seralini's study unsatisfactory are helping to undermine the entire basis of GM food approvals.
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1.Panel rejects GM corn, cancer link
AFP, 22 10 2012
http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Panel-rejects-GM-corn-cancer-link-20121022

Paris - An investigative panel on Monday rejected a contested French study that linked genetically-modified corn to cancer in rats but called for a "long-term, independent" probe into the issue to advise the public.

The Higher Biotechnologies Council (HCB) said it found "no causal relationship" between the rats' tumours and consumption of Monsanto's NK603 GM corn or the Roundup herbicide that was part of the experiment.

The experiment's methods were also "unsuitable", it said, in a report made at the government's request.

"The scientific committee (of the HCB) concludes that the study provides no scientific information regarding the detection of any health risk linked to NK603 corn, whether it was treated with Roundup or not."

"The HCB's Economic, Ethical and Social Committee, for its part, affirms that the study is not conclusive.

"However, in order to answer the public's questions, the committee recommends that a long-term, independent, transparent study, with adversarial views, be undertaken under government auspices."

GM restrictions

In September, a team of researchers led by Gilles-Eric Seralini at the University of Caen, published a long-term study that said rats fed with Monsanto's NK603 corn and/or doses of Roundup developed tumours.

The paper, published in a peer-reviewed science journal, unleashed a storm in environmentally-sensitive Europe, where GM products are subject to widespread restrictions.

NK603 has been engineered to make it resistant to Monsanto's herbicide Roundup.

This enables farmers to douse fields with the weed killer in a single go, thus offering substantial savings.

Seralini said his experiment was the first to test GM corn rodents' normal lifespan of two years, as opposed to the standard 90 days. Two hundred male and female rats were split into 10 groups of 10 animals.

One was a "control" group which was given ordinary rat food that contained 33% non-GM corn, and plain water.

Three groups were given ordinary rat food and water with increasing doses of Roundup, reflecting various concentrations of the herbicide in the food chain.

The other six were fed rat food of which 11%, 22% or 33% comprised NK603 corn, either treated or not with Roundup when the corn was grown.

The researchers said they found that NK603 and Roundup both caused similar damage to the rats' health, whether they were consumed together or on their own.

But critics said Seralini manipulated the media to boost the impact of his findings and faulted his experiments and gaps in his data.

On Friday, six French science academies joined the accusers, saying that the work "does not enable any reliable conclusion to be drawn" and had "spread fear among the public".

The joint statement, an exceptional event in French science, was issued by the national academies of agriculture, medicine, pharmacy, sciences, technology and veterinary studies.

The government ordered two fast-track official investigations into the study. The second report, by the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSES), was due to be released later on Monday.

The paper was published on 19 September in a peer-reviewed specialist journal called Food and Chemical Toxicology.
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2.Panels reject study on GM corn but urge wider probes
Excpatica, 22 October 2012
 http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/panels-reject-study-on-gm-corn-but-urge-wider-probes_248013.html

Two expert panels on Monday rejected a French study linking genetically-modified corn to tumours in rats but called for wider probes into issues raised by the contested research.

Acting on a government request to deliver a fast-track verdict, two groups of specialists reported they found no evidence to back what the study said.

The Higher Biotechnologies Council (HCB) and the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSES) said they saw nothing to challenge existing safety assessments for Monsanto's NK603 corn or its Roundup weed killer, which was part of the experiment.

"The study provides no scientific information regarding the detection of any health risk linked to NK603 corn, whether it was treated with Roundup or not," said the 66-member HCB, set up in 2009 to provide an independent view.

"The data are insufficient to establish scientifically a causal link... or to support the conclusions or pathways suggested by the authors," ANSES said separately.

But both called for a broader investigation to guide a public left rattled or confused by the debate.

The HCB said the inquiry should look into whether NK603 had long-term impacts on health, while ANSES urged a probe into any consequences of combined exposure to NK603 and Roundup. Both issues had been explored in the study.

The storm was unleashed in September by researchers led by Gilles-Eric Seralini at the University of Caen in Normandy, who said rats fed with the genetically-modified corn and/or doses of Roundup developed tumours.

The paper unleashed a storm in environmentally-sensitive Europe, where GM crops face many restrictions.

NK603 has been engineered to make it resistant to Roundup, so that farmers can douse fields with the Monsanto weed killer in a single go, offering savings.

Seralini said his experiment was the first to test GM corn on rodents' normal life span of two years, as opposed to the standard 90 days. He said NK603 and Roundup both caused tumours, whether they were consumed together or on their own.

But critics faulted the experimental methods and data and accused him of manipulating the media to gain scary headlines.

In an exceptional move, six French science academies on Friday branded the work as flawed and said it had "spread fear among the public".

Among reactions, Seralini said he welcomed a wider investigation but said that in the meantime, NK603 should be banned.

"A two-year study takes four years to set up and analyse, and during these four years, who else is going to fall sick or die because of these poorly-tested products?" he told AFP in a phone interview.

Monsanto said at its French headquarters in Lyon that "it took note" of the HCB's findings and said the recommended probe "does not change risk assessments" for NK603.

Greenpeace said Seralini had exposed a gap in testing transgenic products for their long-term impact on health and the environment.

"No suitable, universally agreed protocol for carrying out such long term tests currently exists," Janet Cotter of Greenpeace International's science unit, told AFP in an email.

"Even then, such tests will not address the broader environmental and social implications of the culture of GEOs [genetically-engineered organisms], nor remove the need for legislation based on the precautionary principle."

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), which reviews use and authorisation of GM organisms, has rejected the Seralini report as "inadequate," and watchdogs in Germany and Australia and New Zealand have said it offered no firm evidence of risk.

Seralini is a well-known opponent of GM food. But his paper appeared in the journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology, which uses the peer-review process, a system designed to ensure published research is accurate and fair.