April/May 2004
Peace
Candidate Dennis Kucinich Vows to Stay in Race
Interview by Amy Goodman
Winds
of Change in Spain
William Rivers Pitt
"House
of Bush, House of Saud"
Interview with Craig Unger by Amy Goodman
"Seeds
of Deception"
Jeffrey Smith
Genetically
Engineered DNA Found in Traditional Seeds
New
Findings Show Health Hazards of Genetically Modified Crops
An
Evolutionary Conversatoin with Barbara Marx Hubbard
Alan Sasha Lithman
Making
A New Declaration of Independence
Michael J. Tamura
Empathic
Listening
Holley Humphrey
Intimacy
With Self and Others, Earth and Spirit
Loba
2004
State of the Universe Address
Swani Beyondananda
Cosmic
Calendar
Salina Rain
New Findings Show Health Hazards of Genetically Modified Crops
Dramatic new scientific research about the health effects of GM crops was ananounced at the meeting of UN Cartagena Protocol for Biosafety meeting last February. The findings are serious, and make clear the urgent need for certain safety aspects of GM crops to be thoroughly investigated.
In the public interest, Dr. Terje Traavik scientific director of the Norwegian Institute of Gene Ecology, took the unusual step of publicly announcing the research before its publication, due to the dangerous and urgent nature of the findings.
Dr. Traavik made the following disturbing revelations:
Farmers in the Philippines living in areas where a Genetically Modified Bt corn variety was planted have come down with an illness which includes fevers, respiratory illnesses and skin reactions. Considered to be a possible reaction to the toxin in the Bt corn pollen, it would be one of the first recorded cases of serious health problems associated with GM crops, and could damage the reputation of the biotech agriculture industry, which is rapidly expanding in developing countries. 39 people living near a field of corn which contains a genetically inserted pesticide began feeling ill last autumn when the crop was producing pollen. It was originally thought they had an infectious disease, but four families left the village and recovered only to experience the same symptoms on return.
Terje Traavik, who was asked to investigate, said blood tests showed the villagers had developed antibodies to the genetically inserted pesticide. Traavik’s studies suggest that a virus promoter—which controls the genetic message—was unexpectedly found intact in human cells.
His team also found that genetically engineered viruses used in the GM process combined with natural viruses to create new hybrid viruses with unpredictable character-istics, and that these hybrid viruses could cause new diseases.
Prof Traavik said tests so far showed evidence of an immune reaction, and he rejected accusations that he was trying to scare people with data not yet reviewed by other scientists. “Publication of results typically requires a waiting period of up to one year or more,” he said. “With such evidence of possible human health impacts of foods already on the market, we believed that waiting to report our findings through publication would not be in the public’s interest.”
“We are absolutely sure it’s a reaction to being exposed to the Bt corn,” Traavik said. The timing of the illnesses, which was not equivalent to normal hay fever, coincided with the corn flowering in June. Livestock also suffered, a horse who ate some of the corn plants slowly died after its belly swelled and it frothed at the mouth. Villagers said four other horses died, but they were all disposed of without any analysis.
In another instance, tests on rats show that the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus Promoter (CaMV 35S), which is used in GM crops to “switch on” the inserted gene, was found intact in the cell tissues of some rats. This was assumed by the biotech industry to be impossible, and therefore not a risk to human health.
The cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) promoter was found intact in rat tissues after a single meal, and was also confirmed to be active in human cells. The full 1100 base pairs of the CaMV promoter was found in stomach cells and in intestinal (mesenteric) lymph nodes two hours after eating; in mesenteric lymph nodes, kidney, and liver cells six hours after eating; and in mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, and liver cells three full days after eating. Future tests will determine if the CaMV is active.
Seven groups of six rats each were fed through a tube to the stomach with a balanced diet. Added to the a small portion of the diet was a single dose of a genetic construct similar to those used to create genetically engineered crops. This construct included a gene that codes for a green fluorescent protein. The negative control group had no promoter attached to the green fluorescent protein gene at all; the positive control used human cytomegalovirus promoter known to be active in all mammalian cells. The test group had the CaMV 35S promoter coupled to the gene. The design tested the DNA construct in both circular and linear form. A final control was not fed any DNA at all. About half of the CaMV fed rats in each of the circular and linear DNA groups were found to contain intact CaMV.
Tissue samples remaining to be tested will soon determine if the CaMV is active, causing the expression of the green fluorescent protein. In a separate but related study, the same three constructs described above were added directly to human intestinal epithelial cells (both small and large intestines), rat cells, and fish cells, in vitro. The fluorescent gene was expressed in all the cells tested.
The CaMV promoter is attached to inserted foreign genes in nearly all genetically engineered foods. It overpowers the cell’s own self-regulatory mechanisms so as to permanently turn on the foreign inserted gene and produce large amounts of the transgene proteins. Without the promoter, the gene would likely be dormant in the DNA, unexpressed. Scientists use the CaMV because it is aggressive and because it works in the DNA of all types of plants.
The assumptions used by biotech advocates as the basis of safety claims were that the CaMV is stable; will only turn on the gene to which it was attached; is plant specific and will not function in mammals, including humans; will not transfer from food to gut bacteria or internal organs. Each of these assumptions have been contradicted.
Embedded into the DNA of many organisms, including humans, are ancient viruses that have worked their way in, perhaps in previous species. While most of this viral material has eroded, some may be complete but simply not turned on. In theory, the fact that the promoter can turn on genes up and down the DNA, combined with the fact that it can transfer to human or animal organs, means that it may be possible for it to turn on a previously dormant virus.
These findings show the potential hazards of GM crops to human health, and demonstrate the importance of biosafety legislation. Dr. Traavik’s research shows the US insistence on GM safety is doubtful.
Contact Terje Traavik PhD, at +47 9581 7537, terjet@genok.org; or Jeffrey Smith at jeffrey@seedsofdeception.com.
Humboldt County’s “Grow GMO-Free Initiative”
Mendocino County, California voters last March were the first in the nation to ban genetically engineered crops and animals by a margin of 56-44%, even though they were outspent by a 7-1 margin. Measure H, an initiative pushed by the county’s organic farmers, was opposed by many of the largest agricultural interests in the US, who fearing that it would set a precedent, spent more than a half-million dollars attempting to defeat it. The consortium of agri-business interests called CropLife America, who were joined by local and state Farm Bureau leaders and members of the county’s agricultural establishment, were no match for the coalition of organic grape growers, businesses and local political figures who educated voters on the dangers of GMOs and convinced them that Mendocino should take a stand because of the inadequacy of safeguards presently offered by the biotechnology industry and federal regulators.
The passage of Measure H is being celebrated in California and beyond as a major victory for farmers and citizens working together to create safe havens for their own organic and GMO-free agriculture. Groups in Sonoma and Humboldt counties are now preparing petition drives to qualify similar initiatives on the November ballot. Supporters say passage of Measure H will give activists the incentive to continue efforts to keep out genetically engineered crops.
“The passage of Measure H in Mendocino has given our movement wings,” said Martha Devine, a Humboldt County organizer working on a similar initiative to be presented to the voters in November.
Humboldt now stands ready to become one of the next US counties to challenge corporate control of seeds and food through the passage of a biotech crop ban this year. Volunteer petitioners, working with the Humboldt Green Genes Committee, are collecting the required signatures from registered voters to be turned in (at least 7,000) by the end of June for the November ballot. “We expect to generate tremendous county-wide support for this effort as the anti-biotech movement gains ground,” said Mike Gann, HGGC organizer. The group will be working closely with Measure H proponents in Mendocino to pass the Humboldt Grow GMO-Free initiative in November, 2004.
Anyone interested in supporting this grassroots effort is invited to attend the regular organizing meetings: Fourth Thursday of the month at the Redwood Peace & Justice Center, 1040 “H” Street, Arcata at 6:30 p.m. Second Wednesday of the month at Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATS) in Eureka, 315 “P” Street, at 6:00 p.m.
Humboldt Green Genes may be contacted by calling Martha Devine at (707) 442-3481, Mike and Angela at (707) 826-1031, or at www.growgmofree.org.
Defend The Mendocino County GE Crop & Animal Ban
Activists, farmers, and concerned consumers across the US and the world have been inspired and energized by the historic vote in Mendocino County California last March that banned the production of genetically engineered crops and animals. Mendocino is the first of 3300 counties in the US to implement such a ban. Mendocino residents voted for the GE ban despite massive spending by the biotech industry ($700,000) and a non-stop barrage of misleading advertising and disinformation.
The Mendocino victory has rocked Monsanto and the biotech industry, who fear that grassroots activists across the US and Canada will now follow Mendocino’s example. As Allan Noe, vice-president of CropLife America, a front group representing Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta stated, “We don’t want to see this pick up any steam. The activist community is well-known for championing causes and for going all out to fuel their beliefs.”
Of course this is exactly what is happening. As Katrina Frey, an organic winemaker from Mendocino and a leader of the Proposition H ban put it: “Mendocino County is the first GMO-free County in the nation, and I am sure it will not be the last. There are currently nine other California Counties considering similar measures.” Frey’s sentiments are echoed by Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who is fighting a crucial court battle against Monsanto in Canada’s Supreme Court: “This is a great victory and a wonderful inspiration for farmers and consumers in the United States and Canada.”
But now the Mendocino ban and future similar bans are under heavy attack. Informed sources have told the Organic Consumers Association that the Farm Bureau and the biotech lobby are spearheading an effort to introduce a bill in the California Senate that will nullify the Mendocino GMO ban and make it illegal for other California counties to pass similar laws. Legislative leaders under the sway of corporate agribusiness and the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, apparently feel they must stamp out “BioDemocracy” in California before it spreads any further.
The Organic Consumers Association and its allies are organizing a major campaign to stop or defeat this legislation. Last March we met in San Francisco and Berkeley with national anti-GE activists to plan this campaign. We are also approaching county elected officials in San Francisco and other areas to pass similar GMO bans. We need your help to spread the word, organize city or county GE bans in your local area, and to defend the Mendocino victory. We believe this is the most crucial moment in the ten-year history of the anti-GE foods movement.
Contact the Organic Consumers Association to find out how you can help. Call (218) 226-4164; visit www.OrganicConsumers.org; or write to 6101 Cliff Estate Road, Little Marais, Minnesota, 55614.
