Wake up Ghanaians! Say no to GMOs Part 2

A little over a week ago, I wrote an article entitled; wake up Ghanaians! Say no to Genetically Modified Organisms, (Feature Article dated Friday, 27 December 2013) in which I pointed out some very important reasons why Ghanaians should reject the big GMO agenda and the attempt to shove this toxic food down our throats. The article generated many interesting comments and discussions, which is a positive sign that at last, Ghanaians are waking up to the reality on the ground.

A couple of the comments however challenged me to produce evidence that GM food is deleterious to our health. I whole heartedly accepted the challenge, not for the sake of winning an argument, but because it is a matter of principle and the beloved people of Ghana deserve to know the truth. By this article therefore, I am making good my promise to provide evidence to that effect.

Before I proceed to do that, let me first clarify some issues.

1. This article is by no means exhaustive, because, as an online article it has to be reasonable in terms of detail and length.

2. The proponents of GM food claim that, it is safe and yet they cannot produce a single long term toxicity study to prove that because, according to the prevailing laws, the biotech companies are not required to do so. To get approval to market their crops, all they need to do is a 3 months or less feeding study on rats. This time is too short to detect any long term adverse effects. (Think about it, how many of us eat for just 5 to 6 years, the equivalent of human years to 90 rat days, and stop eating for the rest of our lives? It makes no sense).

3. The widely trumpeted safety of GM food is thus based on assumptions. Their assumptions are that, (a) GM food is identical to conventional food which is not true. For starters, it contains a foreign gene. (b) If GM food were bad, they say, the test subjects and eventually the humans who consume them would suffer the effects immediately or in the short term. Guess who used the same arguments in the past to deceive the world; the tobacco industry.

4. The assumptions in (3) are fallacious because, this is food we are talking about. This is something we will be eating at least 3 times a day, every day, during our lifetime. Plus the absence of immediate toxicity does not mean that it cannot produce a chronic problem in future.

5. The harmful effects of GM food are from both the genetic manipulation and the associated toxic herbicides sprayed on the crops produced by the engineered crops.

6. Note that the available research was conducted in animals, which have long been used in biomedical research as models. Virtually all Pharmaceuticals are developed and tested that way, and whatever causes harm in animals, almost always causes harm in humans at an equivalent concentration.

Now to the Evidence:

1. GM soy fed to hamsters over a period of two years, by Russian Scientists caused slow sexual maturity, hair growing in their mouths and infertility by the 3rd generation.



2. GM Soy fed to young goats caused injuries in their hearts, muscles, kidneys, and liver as evidenced by a high lactic dehydrogenase in these tissues. ( this chemical is found in the tissues and gets into the blood when the tissues are injured)3



3. GM potatoes fed to rats caused, underdevelopment of their brains, livers and testicles as well as hyperplasia (increases in the number of cells, and eventually size) of the linings of the stomach, Colon, and throughout the small intestines. This can lead to cancer production.4



4. GM maize caused immune disturbances, triggering immune responses and production of cytokines (blood cells), the type associated with , allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases.5



5. Glyphosate, the herbicide associated with the GM foods has been shown to cause multiple birth defects in animals according to independent researchers as well as Monsanto’s own research.6

I could go on and on but, I believe this is enough. You be the judge, whether GM foods deserve a place on our dining tables.

Sources

1. SenGupta P., Biomed Int 2011 2:81-89.



2. Velimirov A, Binter C, Zentek J., 2008. ‘Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603xMON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice’. Report-Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth.



3. Tudisco, R. et tal, ‘Fate of Transgenic DNA and evaluation of metabolic effects in goats
   
   Fed genetically modified soybean and in their offspring’. The Animal Consortium 2010.



4. Ewen S, Pustzai A., ‘Effects of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine’, Lancet. 354:1353-1354



5. Finamore A, Roselli M, Britti S, et al. 2008 ‘Intestinal and peripheral immune response to MON 810 maize ingestion in weaning and old mice’. J Agric. Food Chem.; 56(23):11533-11539.



6. Antoniou M, Habib MEM, Howard CV, Jennings RC, Leifert C, et al. (2012) Teratogenic

Effects of Glyphosate-Based Herbicides: Divergence of Regulatory Decisions from Scientific

Evidence. J Environ Anal Toxicol S4:006. doi:10.4172/2161-0525.S4-006.