GMO Evidence - Where Do All the Genes Go?
It is a cornerstone of those who make Genetically Modified Organisms that the genes they splice into a food stays in that food, and goes nowhere else. They do not transfer into other crops, they can not contaminate the environment, and they are harmlessly digested by people and destroyed before they can jump into our body’s DNA.
That’s asking a lot, isn’t it? And if we think about it, I believe we must wonder if anything is that containable. We have been assured by the United States Department of Agriculture that these assumptions are true, and they say they have the science to back it up, with no chance of being wrong. Do I hear an echo of ‘famous last words’?
But the first crack in the glass was when farmers started finding the gene in their crops, even though they had not planted any GMO seed. Some thought it obvious that the genes were not as tightly bound to the original GMO plants as was believed. But there were alternate explanations that were also possible, including seed blowing off of a supply truck as it went past a non-GMO farm, or even carried on the wind from farm to far. So that was not definitive proof.
The second crack appeared along with the superweeds which started growing along with Roundup Ready® corn. The weeds somehow caught the GMO gene that makes a plant resistant to the herbicide Roundup®. If you use that herbicide, available in most big-box stores, on your lawn or garden, you will notice they seem to have changed it’s formula. For example, you can now apply it right before a rain, which you could not do previously. My thought is that they are rather desperately trying to get around the resistance that the GMO crops have caused in weeds. I think this is reasonably direct evidence that the spliced genes has the capability of transfer to non-intended plant life.
But all the real-world evidence has been dismissed by the USDA as irrelevant. The formal finding of the USDA is that the proteins involved with the gene splicing are safe for “food, feed, cultivation… and breeding”, and present “no safety concerns”. End of story. Case closed.
Should it be closed so tightly, in the face of evidence to the contrary? Since the 1990’s, reports have been filed with the USDA by a growing part of the scientific community that has qualms about GMO. One in 1998 showed exactly how the DNA of the GMO proteins can … dare I use the word… infect many species. Not only plant life, but also animals and humans. This study was sent to the USDA by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho. Some think she is too radical, but usually conservative MSNBC news has used her as an on-camera commentator for the controversy surrounding Genetically Modified Organisms. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1967 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemical Genetics at the University of California, San Diego. She now is director of The Institute of Science in Society. You can look her up on Wikipedia. She is definitely a player.
Apparently the USDA thinks her science lacks merit, because they routinely ignore the reports she files with them, including the one mentioned above. Is that because she is wrong? Or is it because if they admit she is right, they would have to immediately pull the plug on GMO food?
Alarmingly, she details how the type of gene splicing used today happens to break the genetic code in a very vulnerable place in the chain. Once broken there, she claims, the DNA can pick up other genetic alterations from viruses that normally inhabit the soil. This is not a good thing. She reports that a certain very rare human disease has become much more common since the advent of GMO, and she places blame squarely on the shoulders of the genetic modifications in the GMO crops now in the open fields of America.
Her conclusions are that genetic additions to food are inherently dangerous, and are done in such a way that provides a means of transfer outbound to other life… viruses, plants, animals, and humans.
Usually when there are two diametrically opposed points of view… say the USDA’s and Dr. Mae-Wan Ho’s… the truth often lies somewhere in between. But in this case, if she is even partially correct, shouldn’t programs to produce genetically modified organisms cease instantly? The potential level of harm could be incredibly high. I think it would be wise for such a moratorium to be established quickly, until opposing scientists with good formal credentials can be convinced that GMO is indeed safe.
Or should we just wait and see?
