Date : 31 March 2011

Contents:

THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE

Dear Friends and colleagues,

RE: Studies Show Animals Fed on GM Diet Face Organ Problems

A new report reviewing 19 studies of mammals fed with commercialized GM soybean and maize which account for more than 80% of all GMOs grown on a large scale appears to indicate liver and kidney problems in the mammals fed on the GMO diet.

The report by Gilles-Eric Seralini et al is published in Environmental Sciences Europe. The authors studied raw data of 90-day-long rat tests that include biochemical blood and urine parameters of mammals eating GMOs modified for pest resistance. The tests were conducted as a result of court actions or official requests and the authors reviewed the studies in the light of modern scientific knowledge.

Though the tests may not point to chronic toxicity of GMOs the authors nonetheless cautioned that the signs highlighted in the kidneys and livers could spell the onset of chronic diseases and suggested that more detailed and prolonged studies be conducted. The authors stated that since no minimal length for the tests is yet obligatory by European law for any of the GMOs cultivated on a large scale this is socially unacceptable in terms of consumer health.

The authors also suggested an alternative to conventional feeding trials, to understand the biological significance of statistical differences. This approach will make it possible to avoid both false negative and false positive results in order to improve safety assessments of agricultural GMOs before their commercialization for cultivation and food/feed use and imports.

The full paper is available at: http://www.enveurope.com/content/23/1/10

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Third World Network

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Genetically modified crops safety assessments: present limits and possible improvements Gilles-Eric Séralini1*, Robin Mesnage(1), Emilie Clair(1), Steeve Gress(1), Joël Spiroux de Vendômois(2), Dominique Cellier(3)

Environmental Sciences Europe 2011, 23:10 http://www.enveurope.com/content/23/1/10

Abstract

Purpose: We reviewed 19 studies of mammals fed with commercialized genetically modified soybean and maize which represent, per trait and plant, more than 80% of all environmental genetically modified organisms

(GMOs) cultivated on a large scale, after they were modified to tolerate or produce a pesticide. We have also obtained the raw data of 90-day-long rat tests following court actions or official requests. The data obtained include biochemical blood and urine parameters of mammals eating GMOs with numerous organ weights and histopathology findings.

Methods: We have thoroughly reviewed these tests from a statistical and a biological point of view. Some of these tests used controversial protocols which are discussed and statistically significant results that were considered as not being biologically meaningful by regulatory authorities, thus raising the question of their interpretations.

Results: Several convergent data appear to indicate liver and kidney problems as end points of GMO diet effects in the above-mentioned experiments. This was confirmed by our meta-analysis of all the in vivo studies published, which revealed that the kidneys were particularly affected, concentrating 43.5% of all disrupted parameters in males, whereas the liver was more specifically disrupted in females (30.8% of all disrupted parameters).

Conclusions: The 90-day-long tests are insufficient to evaluate chronic toxicity, and the signs highlighted in the kidneys and livers could be the onset of chronic diseases. However, no minimal length for the tests is yet obligatory for any of the GMOs cultivated on a large scale, and this is socially unacceptable in terms of consumer health protection. We are suggesting that the studies should be improved and prolonged, as well as being made compulsory, and that the sexual hormones should be assessed too, and moreover, reproductive and multigenerational studies ought to be conducted too.