Quote:
Originally Posted by
Crankndapot 
over 1 trillion meals by GMO products and guess how many people gotten sick? ZERO.
i am biased but willing to listen to you organic guys out there.
Organic may taste better and a bit healthier but cant feed the world unfortunately. I have a feeling that GM modified sweet corn will actually be sweeter too as they are able to locate and duplicate that gene. I would love to take a blindfold test to see which one i like better.
Can i hear some reasons why GM products are so bad and have facts behind it? I've seen nothing scientifically proven and theres been hundreds if not thousands of studies on these foods that we eat every day.
No crazy posts about agent orange or all the crap in the past..I actually want someone to convince me NOT to eat GM food anymore. facts.
People DO get sick ... it's just not widely publicized until Monsanto is FORCED to disclose their research through FOIA lawsuits or a large population in a foreign country are affected by GM crops!
The biotech industry is fond of saying that they offer genetically modified (GM) crops that resist pests, conjuring up the image of insects staying away from GM crop fields.
But "resisting pests" is just a euphemism, for "contains its own built-in pesticide." When bugs take a bite of the GM plant, the toxin splits open their stomach and kills them!
The idea that we consume that same toxic pesticide in every bite is hardly appetizing!
Genetic engineers simply remove the gene that produces the Bt in bacteria and then insert it into the DNA of corn and cotton plants so that the plant does the work, not the farmer.
They say that Bt-toxin is quickly destroyed in our stomach ... but RESEARCH tells a different story!
"People with compromised immune systems or pre-existing allergies may be particularly susceptible to the effects of Bt."
"Repeated exposure via inhalation can result in sensitization and allergic response in hypersensitive individuals."
So much for the contention that Bt does not interact with humans!
First of all, GM plants produce about 3,000-5,000 times the amount of toxin as the sprays. A Bt producing GM plant continuously produces the toxin in every cell where it does not dissipate by weather and cannot be washed off.The bacterial spray form, on the other hand, is broken down within a few days to two weeks by sunlight, high temperatures, or substances on the leaves of plants, and can be "washed from leaves into the soil by rainfall," or rinsed by consumers.
The natural toxin produced in bacteria is inactive until it gets inside the alkaline digestive tract of an insect.
Once inside, a "safety catch" is removed and the Bt becomes toxic.
But scientists change the sequence of the Bt gene before inserting it into GM plants. The Bt toxin it produces usually comes without the safety catch. The plant-produced Bt toxin is always active and more likely to trigger an immune response than the natural variety. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggest examining a protein for 1) similarity of its amino acid sequence to known allergens, 2) digestive stability, and 3) heat stability. These properties are not predictive of allergenicity. But according to experts, their presence should be sufficient to reject the GM crop or at least require more testing.
The Bt-toxin produced in GM corn fails all three criteria.
For example, the specific Bt-toxin found in Monsanto‘s Yield Guard and Syngenta‘s Bt 11 corn varieties is called Cry1AB. In 1998, an FDA researcher discovered that Cry1Ab shared a sequence of 9-12 amino acids with vitellogenin, an egg yolk allergen. The study concluded that "the similarity... might be sufficient to warrant additional evaluation." No additional evaluation took place.
Expert advisers to the EPA called for "surveillance and clinical assessment of exposed individuals" to "confirm the allergenicity of Bt products." Again, no such monitoring has taken place.
Bt-toxin is produced in GM corn and can be eaten intact. It is also in pollen, which can be breathed in.
In 2003, during the time when an adjacent Bt cornfield was pollinating, virtually an entire Filipino village of about 100 people were stricken by a disease. The symptoms included headaches, dizziness, extreme stomach pain, vomiting, chest pains, fever and allergies, as well as respiratory, intestinal, and skin reactions.
The symptoms appeared first in those living closest to the field, and then progressed to others by proximity. Blood samples from 39 individuals showed antibodies in response to Bt-toxin. This supports, but does not prove a link to the symptoms. However, when the same corn was planted in four other villages the following year the symptoms returned in all four areas - only during the time of pollination.
They had even warned that genes from inhaled pollen might transfer into the DNA of bacteria in the respiratory system.
Although no studies were done to verify this risk, years later UK scientists confirmed that after consuming GM soybeans, the foreign inserted genes can transfer into the DNA of gut bacteria.
If this also happens with Bt genes, then years after we decide to stop eating GM corn chips, our own gut bacteria may continue to produce Bt-toxin within our intestines.
A Monsanto rat study on Bt corn (Mon 863) that was made public due to a lawsuit, showed a significant increase in three types of blood cells related to the immune system: basophils, lymphocytes, and total white cell counts. (Leukemia)
Somehow, the protein changes from harmless to potentially deadly, just by being created in different plant species. What is considered "harmless" in beans could be poisonous in peas. Scientists believe that subtle, unpredicted changes in the pattern of sugar molecules that are attached to the protein causes the problem. These types of subtle changes are not routinely analyzed in GM crops on the market.
Allergic reactions are a defensive, often harmful immune system response to an external irritant. The body interprets something as foreign, different, and offensive, and reacts accordingly.
All GM foods, by definition, have something "foreign and different"...
