WEEKLY WATCH number 177 (2/6/2006) | |
from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor Dear all: Don't miss a disturbing report by Jeffrey Smith, based on existing science, on how eating GM crops may result in herbicide being produced in our intestines (FOOD SAFETY). Has the Indian government finally seen sense in its decision to delay approval of field trials of Bt aubergines (also known as eggplants or brinjal) following reports of deaths in sheep that grazed on Bt cotton? Or is it just waiting for the fuss to die down so that it can wave the wretched crop through? India is the Centre of Origin for aubergine, where it has been cultivated for the last 4000 years or so. (ASIA) Claire [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------ FOOD SAFETY ------------------------------------------------------------ + GM CROPS MAY PRODUCE HERBICIDE INSIDE OUR INTESTINES Read on to find out how this happens [shortened]: Liberty herbicide can kill a wide variety of plants. It can also kill bacteria, fungi, and insects, and has toxic effects on humans and animals. The herbicide is derived from a natural antibiotic, which is produced by two strains of a soil bacterium. In order that the bacteria are not killed by the antibiotic that they themselves create, the strains also produce specialized enzymes which transform the antibiotic to a non-toxic form called NAG (N-acetyl-L-glufosinate). The specialized enzymes are called the pat protein and the bar protein, which are produced by the pat gene and the bar gene, respectively. The two genes are inserted into the DNA of GM crops, where they produce the enzymes in every cell. When the plant is sprayed, Liberty's solvents and surfactants transport glufosinate ammonium throughout the plant, where the enzymes convert it primarily into NAG. Thus, the GM plant detoxifies the herbicide and lives, while the surrounding weeds die. The problem is that the NAG, which is not naturally present in plants, remains there and accumulates with every subsequent spray. Thus, when we eat these GM crops, we consume NAG. Once the NAG is inside our digestive system, some of it may be re-transformed back into the toxic herbicide. In rats fed NAG, for example, 10% of it was converted back to glufosinate by the time it was excreted in the feces. Another rat study found a 1% conversion. And with goats, more than one-third of what was excreted had turned into glufosinate. It is believed that gut bacteria, primarily found in the colon or rectum, are responsible for this re-toxification. Although these parts of the gut do not absorb as many nutrients as other sections, rats fed NAG did show toxic effects. This indicates that the herbicide had been regenerated, was biologically active, and had been assimilated by the rats. A goat study also confirmed that some of the herbicide regenerated from NAG ended up in the kidneys, liver, muscle, fat and milk. More information about the impact of this conversion is presumably found in "Toxicology and Metabolism Studies" on NAG, submitted to European regulators by AgrEvo (now Bayer CropScience). These unpublished studies were part of the application seeking approval of herbicide-tolerant canola. When the UK government's Pesticide Safety Directorate attempted to provide some of this information to an independent researcher, they were blocked by the company's threats of legal action. The studies remained private. ------------------------------------------------------------ + PR PUSH FOR SCIENCE ACADEMIES TO SUPPORT GM FOODS During a recent international meeting of the Science Academy in Berlin, these twelve scientists, from Germany, China, South Africa, India, France, Egypt, Switzerland and the USA, unanimously declared that GM food is at least as safe as other food. Prof Klaus Ammann of the University of Berne accused Greenpeace of spreading "lies" in this respect. While Ammann denounces the likes of Greenpeace as campaigners, at least they are open about their campaigning. Ammann and his kind are something far more insidious - pro-GM activists who dress up their campaigning and PR promotions as the authoritative voice of science. More on Ammann: http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=8& ------------------------------------------------------------ + NEW STUDY EXPOSES MONSANTO'S BT COTTON HYPE The study was based on a cotton-growing area of India that was considered largely devoid of the "external influence by any NGO" and where |