Coping: A Warning About Frankenfoods/ Our Prion Eyes

Coping: A Warning About Frankenfoods/ Our Prion Eyes

This is the kind of email I really appreciate folks sending us to share:

"Hi George:

(I'm a retired Ph.D. biophysical chemist who is author or co-author of some 70 peer reviewed publications in respected scientific journals. I believe this study should get the widest possible publicity.)

Next time you eat any corn product made with GM corn (as most all are these days) best think very long and very hard. Check out this study... it seems a quite well done study to me.

Some science first... one of the introduced genes codes for a toxin made naturally by Bacillus thurengenesis. When insect larvae are infected with this bacteria the toxin gets secreted into the gut of the larvae. The toxin affects the plasma membrane of the cells lining the gut of the larvae in a way to cause massive leakage of water and salts from the cell into the gut, killing the larvae. I've used this bacillus for several uses on corn silks, for example. It appears not to infect mammals.

Now proteins that naturally burrow into cell membranes are funny creatures, capable of doing a lot of weird things.

So here is my conjecture: I'm guessing that this toxin may be resistant to being digested in the acid milieu of the stomach, and when in the small intestine gets into the cells lining the small intestine. It may well even escape from those cells into the bloodstream and cause mischief lord knows where.

There is an analogy here; mad cow disease and its related diseases. the infectious agent is a small polypeptide called a prion. When cows (and other mammals) are fed even well cooked meat from mad cows the prion escapes digestion, gets into the bloodstream, and gets into the brain. Quite a feat.

I'd say Monsanto is about to be road kill.

I'm sure Monsanto never bothered with animal safety tests. They just assumed that eating Bt toxin was harmless. Just like the food manufacturers assumed trans-fatty acids in hydrogenated vegetable oils were harmless.

I'm throwing out all my remaining store bought corn meal. I can make all I want from my own heirloom Bloody Butcher corn which does not have the Bt gene.

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Austrian Government Study Confirms Genetically Modified (GM) Crops
Threaten Human Fertility and Health Safety

Advocates Call for Immediate Ban of All GM Foods and GM Crops

IMMEDIATE RELEASE (November 13, 2008)

(Los Angeles, CA.) - A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, managed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, and carried out by Veterinary University Vienna, confirms genetically modified (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world.



Feeding mice with genetically modified corn developed by the US-based Monsanto Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek said, there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently.



In the study, Austrian scientists performed several long-term feeding trials over 20 weeks with laboratory mice fed a diet containing 33% of a GM variety (NK 603 x MON 810), or a closely related non-GE variety used in many countries. Statistically significant litter size and pup weight decreases were found in the third and fourth litters in the GM-fed mice, compared to the control group.



The corn is genetically modified with genes that produce a pesticidal toxin, as well as genes that allow it to survive applications of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.

A book by author Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetic Roulette, distributed to members of congress last year, documents 65 serious health risks of GM products, including similar fertility problems with GM soy and GM corn: Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce. Male mice fed GM soy had damaged young sperm cells. The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning. Several US farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties. Additionally, over the last two months, investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products.



The principle GM crops are soy, corn, cottonseed and canola. GM sugar from sugar beets will also be introduced before year’s end.



Mr. Smith, who is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology says, “GM foods are likely responsible for several negative health trends in the US. The government must impose an immediate ban on these dangerous crops.” He says, “Consumers don’t need to wait for governmental action. They can download a free Non-GMO Shopping Guide at www.HealthierEating.org.”



Monsanto press offices in the UK and USA were unable to provide a comment on the findings for journalists yesterday.



The Institute for Responsible Technology’s Campaign for Healthier Eating in America mobilizes citizens, organizations, businesses, and the media, to achieve the tipping point of consumer rejection of genetically modified foods.



The Institute educates people about the documented health risks of GMOs and provides them with healthier non-GMO product choices.



The Institute also informs policy makers and the public around the world about the impacts of GMOs on health, environment, the economy, and agriculture, and the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting.

###

Institute For Responsible Technology
Media Contact: NJ Jaeger
Expert Contact: Jeffrey M. Smith
Email: njmail@cox.net
Phone: +1-310-377-0915

Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
Corporate Communication: Univ.-Doz. Ingrid Kiefer
Tel: +43 50 555-25000; E-Mail: ingrid.kiefer@ages.at

Links

Austrian Study: http://www.ages.at/ueber-uns/presse/...ng-zu-neuen-er
Institute for Responsible Technology: http://responsibletechnology.org
Non-GMO Shopping Guide: http://www.responsibletechnology.org...tFiles/144.pdf
Genetic Roulette: http://www.geneticroulette.com

If I catch a Monsanto response to the study, I will pass it along, but about the only thing Monsanto-ish are stories like "Monsanto bolsters investment in Jerseyville facility" and such. I'm anxious to read their side of it, so we can keep up on this. As I near 60, I'm not too worried about my sperm count, but I've had severe allergic reactions to corn products in the past and it makes me wonder "Was that natural?"

urbansurvival.com

[THE eXchanger]

excellent article

on you tube
be sure to watch
The Future of Foods

part 1 thru part 4

i am real careful NOW, what i eat

love
susan
the eXchanger

[bilderburger w/cheese]

i dont know...

prions are one thing; Bt is another entire wall of wax. sure, it might be digested and absorbed into the human stomach, but its certainly not on the scale of a prion.

prions cannot be destroyed by cooking at high temperatures or freezing and can remain in the environment for very long periods of time. theyre also self-replicating, which adds another fascinating dimension to this unique class of protein-like viruses.

i dont know of any information or research that would lead me to believe that the Bt toxin would act like a prion.

that said, i avoid all GE foods and eat organic whenever possible.


susan: i like the world according to monsanto even better than the future of foods
http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=105 you can download the movie there, as well.

[capreycorn]

not only the austrians have studied the effects of GM food on rats....
others did so too...
to think how badly rats react to GM food is worrying... since rats are known for their high toxin tolerance levels and their ability to bring forth healthy offspring in nuclear testing areas...where little other life forms survive (they are tough)..
...GM food seems to be more dangerous for rats than living around Chernobyl.

i can`t recall where or when the studies ,i read about, were made...but these studies found that GM food fed to rats made their organs like the liver, etc..shrink dangerously..even completely destroyed these organs in some cases...


ps:
growing one`s own food in the garden is a good idea...just make sure ,to not use "touchdown" or "roundup" herbicides, against weeds...and then plant the veggies there... it might be just as bad as planting GM food in the own garden