Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease

[Jcrowley]

Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease
By Jeffrey M. Smith

<snip>

He left his job and accepted a position at Monsanto, rising quickly to become the facilitator for GM cotton sales in California and Arizona. He would often repeat Shapiro's vision to customers, researchers, even fellow employees. After about three months, he visited Monsanto's St. Louis headquarters for the first time for new employee training. There too, he took the opportunity to let his colleagues know how enthusiastic he was about Monsanto's technology that was going to reduce waste, decrease poverty and help the world. Soon after the meeting, however, his world was shaken.

"A vice president pulled me aside," recalled Kirk. "He told me something like, 'Wait a second. What Robert Shapiro says is one thing. But what we do is something else. We are here to make money. He is the front man who tells a story. We don't even understand what he is saying.'"

Kirk felt let down. "I went in there with the idea of helping and healing and came out with 'Oh, I guess it is just another profit-oriented company.'" He returned to California, still holding out hopes that the new technology could make a difference.

Possible Toxins in GM Plants

Kirk was developing the market in the West for two types of GM cotton. Bt cotton was engineered with a gene from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. Organic farmers use the natural form of the bacterium as an insecticide, spraying it occasionally during times of high pest infestation. Monsanto engineers, however, isolated and then altered the gene that produces the Bt-toxin, and inserted it into the DNA of the cotton plant. Now every cell of their Bt cotton produces a toxic protein. The other variety was Roundup Ready® cotton. It contains another bacterial gene that enables the plant to survive an otherwise toxic dose of Monsanto's Roundup® herbicide. Since the patent on Roundup's main active ingredient, glyphosate, was due to expire in 2000, the company was planning to sell Roundup Ready seeds that were bundled with their Roundup herbicide, effectively extending their brand's dominance in the herbicide market.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_1823.cfm

[ThomCat]

1. May?

I'm amazed at the amount of corruption that Monsanto perpetuates. They are, without doubt, one of the most evil corporations on earth. They are going to create untold amounts of damage and never accept responsibility.

No effect except the intended one is ever their fault. x(

[LittleClarkie]

2. What was it Paul Harvey was talking about today

I know I'm digressing, but it was interesting that the toxic chemical could be taken out, leaving you with a cotton seed that's surprisingly rich in protein. So, is that a different company who's trying to develop a food source that can grow in arid regions, or is that this company?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. Texas A&M I think...

still GM FrankinFood though...

[Morgana LaFey]

13. Yea, I was just going to say

Does it make a difference? It's not like ANY of them are altruists are heart, or even honest about their products.

[kimmerspixelated]

3. Well, this must be

No shit, Sherlock, Day!

[Jcrowley]

5. Horizontal gene transfer

Horizontal gene transfer is one of the most serious, if not the most serious hazard of transgenic technology. I have been drawing our regulators’ attention to it at least since 1996 <1>, when there was already sufficient evidence to suggest that transgenic DNA in GM crops and products can spread by being taken up directly by viruses and bacteria as well as plant and animals cells.

The oft-repeated refrain that "transgenic DNA is just like ordinary DNA" is false. Transgenic DNA is in many respects optimised for horizontal gene transfer. It is designed to cross species barriers and to jump into genomes, and it has homologies to the DNA of many species and their genetic parasites (plasmids, transposons and viruses), thereby enhancing recombination with all of them <2>. Transgenic constructs contain new combinations of genes that have never existed, and they also amplify gene products that have never been part of our food chain <3>.

The health risks of horizontal gene transfer include:
1 Antibiotic resistance genes spreading to pathogenic bacteria.
2 Disease-associated genes spreading and recombining to create new viruses and bacteria that cause diseases.
3 Transgenic DNA inserting into human cells, triggering cancer.

The risk of cancer is highlighted by the recent report that gene therapy - genetic modification of human cells - claimed its first cancer victim <4>. The procedure, in which bone marrow cells are genetically modified outside the body and re-implanted, was previously thought to avoid creating infectious viruses and causing cancer, both recognized major hazards of gene therapy.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/FSAopenmeeting.php

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. LOL

:rofl:

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. This is funny how?

[Canuckistanian]

10. That must explain the Nelson and Schmeiser situation

http://www.mindfully.org/GE/GE4/Heartbreak-In-The-Heartland21jul02.htm

Heartbreak in the Heartland:
The True Cost of Genetically Engineered Crops

Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian canola farmer who has been sued by agricultural chemical and biotech giant Monsanto after some of Monsanto's genetically engineered Roundup Ready canola genes drifted onto his property from neighboring farms and contaminated his crop.

Mr. Schmeiser, who is now 70 years old, has traveled the world speaking to a wide variety of audiences about his experience.

Mr. Schmeiser received the Mahatma Gandhi award in October, 2000.

~snip

Percy Schmeiser:

There is no such thing as pure canola seed. It is all contaminated.

Also there is also no such thing as containment. The reason for that is that now, canola has become a super weed.

What is a super weed?

If farmer “A” buys a GMO canola from “this company,” and farmer “B” buys a GMO canola from “that company,” and over here another farmer buys GMO canola from Monsanto, the genes from these three GMO crops are now into one conventional plant. That makes it a super weed because you need three chemicals to kill one plant. In four or five years, that super weed has spread all over Western Canada, into fields where people never grew canola. It’s in wheat fields, barley fields, oats fields, flax fields - it’s all over.

Monsanto says, "don't worry, no problem. We'll now come up with a new super chemical." But I guarantee you by the end of the year 2001, after tests are done, we will have five of the GMO genes in one plant.

[spillthebeans]

12. As experts have stated .... they don't know what they are doing

Why does the name Rumsfeld pop into my head when I hear about evil things

[Cha]

4. Thank you, Kirk Azevedo!

"Ironically, California's assembly, which has done nothing to protect the state from possible losses due to GM crop contamination, passed a bill on August 24, 2006 that prohibits other counties and cities from creating GM free zones. The senate is expected to vote on the issue by the end of their session on August 31st. (see http://www.calgefree.org/preemption.shtml) It is yet another example of how the biotech industry has been able to push their agenda onto US consumers, without regard to health and environmental safeguards. No doubt that their lobbyists, anxious to have this bill pass, told legislators that GM crops are needed to stop poverty and feed a hungry world."

"VICTORY! Local Democracy Protected, SB1056 Dies!

"Dear Friends,

"SB1056, the bill that would have preempted local restrictions on genetically engineered organisms, failed to make it through the California Senate, and has died with the close of the legislative year!"

"This is a major victory, and one that could not have been achieved without the hard work of so many of you who visited, called and wrote to your legislators. Click here to read the press release that went out last week."

Thank the Lucky Stars!

[soothsayer]

8. Death to monsatan!

[OnionPatch]

9. What are the chances

that our new Democratic congress can, at the very least, require GM foods to be labeled? It's a tragedy what Monsanto is doing to our food supply. It's an outrage that we can't even know when we're eating this stuff.

[mom cat]

14. Link to actions you can take regarding GM:

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/Home/index.cfm

[bettyellen]

15. ....