Is GM Corn Safe to Eat?
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding GM products, specifically the issue of wether certain GM crops may or may not be safe to eat. One crop in particular has been of constant concern: corn. Several studies have been published advocating for the safety of GM corn and several warning against its potential toxic effects. Recently one of the most well-known studies warning of the dangers of a GM crop has been retracted by the journal in which it was published. However, there is solid reason to doubt the validity of this retraction and to accept the supporting evidence concerning the claims the study makes.
The Seralini Study
The Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology published the study entitled “Long Term Toxicity of a Roundup Herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant Genetically Modified Maize” written by a team lead by Gilles-Eric Seralini. From the moment it was published, the study was misinterpreted and misquoted, most commonly summed-up as “GMO Corn Causes Cancer.” This was imprecise as Seralini’s studied actually showed increased toxicity in animals who consumed the GM corn designated Monsanto NK603 Roundup Ready. This increased toxicity lead to early liver and kidney failure, more numerous development of tumors, and increased mortality. The popular media has botched the job of conveying accurately information from this study to the public. The message to take away from the Seralini study is that NK603 is potentially detrimental to health of anyone who consumes it.
The Monsanto Study
The Seralini study has been criticized on two valid methodological points: species choice and sample size. The breed of rat chosen for the study, Sprague–Dawley, and the experimental sample size, 20 per group, was chosen because it exactly matches the breed and group size of a study published in 2004 by Bruce G. Hammond in the same journal called “Results of a 13 Week Safety Assurance Study With Rats Fed Grain from Glyphosate Tolerant Corn.” This study was funded by Monsanto and after just 91 days declared the Roundup Ready corn “as safe and nutritious as existing commercial corn hybrids.” If Seralini’s study is invalid for its small sample size and choice of subjects, then Hammond’s study is at least equally invalid for declaring Monsanto’s Roundup Ready NK603 “safe.” The best proclamation that can credibly be said is the safety or toxicity in this strain of corn is still being debated. However, a more honest assessment would be that consuming NK603 corn for 91 days or less has not shown to be harmful, but eating it for extended periods of time have been shown to cause increased toxicity in animals.
The Seralini Study
The Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology published the study entitled “Long Term Toxicity of a Roundup Herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant Genetically Modified Maize” written by a team lead by Gilles-Eric Seralini. From the moment it was published, the study was misinterpreted and misquoted, most commonly summed-up as “GMO Corn Causes Cancer.” This was imprecise as Seralini’s studied actually showed increased toxicity in animals who consumed the GM corn designated Monsanto NK603 Roundup Ready. This increased toxicity lead to early liver and kidney failure, more numerous development of tumors, and increased mortality. The popular media has botched the job of conveying accurately information from this study to the public. The message to take away from the Seralini study is that NK603 is potentially detrimental to health of anyone who consumes it.
The Monsanto Study
The Seralini study has been criticized on two valid methodological points: species choice and sample size. The breed of rat chosen for the study, Sprague–Dawley, and the experimental sample size, 20 per group, was chosen because it exactly matches the breed and group size of a study published in 2004 by Bruce G. Hammond in the same journal called “Results of a 13 Week Safety Assurance Study With Rats Fed Grain from Glyphosate Tolerant Corn.” This study was funded by Monsanto and after just 91 days declared the Roundup Ready corn “as safe and nutritious as existing commercial corn hybrids.” If Seralini’s study is invalid for its small sample size and choice of subjects, then Hammond’s study is at least equally invalid for declaring Monsanto’s Roundup Ready NK603 “safe.” The best proclamation that can credibly be said is the safety or toxicity in this strain of corn is still being debated. However, a more honest assessment would be that consuming NK603 corn for 91 days or less has not shown to be harmful, but eating it for extended periods of time have been shown to cause increased toxicity in animals.
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