TWO YEAR STUDY SHOWS MONSANTO'S OWN ROUNDUP TOXICITY STUDY HIDES THE TRUTH AND THAT THEIR CLAIMS ON THE TOXICITY OF ROUNDUP HERBICIDE AND OF THEIR OWN GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM/GMO) ROUNDUP RESISTANT PLANT IS VASTLY MISLEADING
TWO YEAR STUDY SHOWS MONSANTO'S OWN ROUNDUP TOXICITY STUDY HIDES THE TRUTH
AND
THAT THEIR CLAIMS ON THE TOXICITY OF ROUNDUP HERBICIDE AND OF THEIR OWN GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM/GMO) ROUNDUP RESISTANT PLANT IS VASTLY MISLEADING
"Long-Term Toxicity of a Roundup Herbicide and a Roundup-Tolerant Genetically Modified Maize"
http://www.enveurope.com/...
The study was submitted for publication March 22, 2014
I was going to write this to show details about physiological effects of the study on the rats, but I have spent a lot of space explaining the hows and whys of the Monsanto Roundup spray and the GM (GMO) Monsanto plant and their probable dangers. As this has gotten rather long I leave it to the reader to go to the study for the nitty gritty details. Bottom line, Roundup is not good for anything living and the Monsanto GM PLANT is indeed a Franken-food monster.
WHY WAS THIS PARTICULAR STUDY SIGNIFICANT?
"Currently, no regulatory authority requires mandatory chronic animal feeding studies to be performed for edible genetically modified organisms (GMOs), or even short-term studies with blood analyses for the full commercial formulations of pesticides as sold and used, but only for the declared active principle alone."
Animal studies previously have lasted only for 90 days; this study ran for 2 years. Most previous studies on herbicides had only tested the specific principal active ingredient in the herbicide, not the full components nor the residue/breakdown products of the chemicals that might remain in or on the sprayed plants, soil, run off, or food produced.
"…in contrast with the study we report here, none of these previous investigations have included a detailed follow-up of the animals, including multiple blood and urine sampling over 2 years, and none has investigated either the GM NK603 R-tolerant maize or of Roundup."
Note:
GM NK603 R-Tolerant maize is the name of one Monsanto's GM plants.
End note
HOW DOES ROUNDUP WORK – EPSPS
All plants and microorganisms have the enzyme EPSPS aka 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, which is necessary to synthesize the amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan without which the plant cannot grow, and so withers and dies. Roundup blocks that enzyme. http://en.wikipedia.org/...
"Ok that was simple, end of Diary? I can stop reading now?"
"Not quite. There is a bit more to 'spalin."
Animals also need the amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan without which they also cannot grow. But animals cannot synthesize those particular amino acids. They get what they need from plants they eat. So messing around with the EPSPS enzyme, it would seem, could pose some possible complications for the treated plants and even the animals that eat the treated plants.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Monsanto uses the commonly used herbicide, glyphosate, that will kill pretty much any growing plant, also possibly kill or damage any animal. Glyphosate does that by inhibiting EPSPS functions.
Monsanto also uses Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a naturally occurring plant bacteria that causes gall and other tissue damage in plants. (http://en.wikipedia.org/...)
WAIT A MINUTE agro-BACTERIUM?? WE'RE INTO MICRO? WHAT HAPPENED TO DISCUSSING PLANTS AND WEED SPRAY?
A. tumefaciens is a plant bacteria. It has the natural capacity to transfer some of its DNA to plants (horizontal gene transfer) causing tumors. That's how it naturally infects the plant. A. tumefaciens is used by Monsanto and others as a carrier to transfer selected plasmids to other organisms. (http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/...)
In the case of Monsanto's genetically modified plants, it is used to protect them from the killing effect of Roundup.
Suffering from Vertigo, SILLINESS ENSUES
"Whoa Ol' Hoss.
Waaaaait just a danged second, Dude. You just said Monsanto's weed spray is 'spose to p'ison the whachacallit. Right?
"EPSPS Enzyme. Yeah.
"In the weeds and the crops, both?
"Yeah. Actually it's not supposed to kill the crop plant but the herbicide doesn’t know the crop from the weeds so the crop is killed too.
"And then you said that Monsanto is using a bacteri bug to put that self same whachacallit back into the crop plant that Monsanto is going to spray with its own p'ison?
Yup.
'Cept, you said/ that crop plant already makes it's own whachacallt!!
Right. The bacteria puts the EPSPS enzyme into the crop plant which already has its own EPSPS. So. Yup, yup and yup.
"That don't make no damn'd sense 'tall.
"I know. Calm down, take a slug of that Jack Daniels you're hugging and I'll try to explain.
"You have two thing's going on at the same time, the Monsanto's Roundup resistant GM plant with its natural EPSPS and its injected GM EPSPS and also Monsanto's Roundup spray with its active poison glyphosate that destroys EPSPS. We'll get to glyphosate a bit later. Just think of it as Roundup weed killer.
"That's three thangs, to keep up with, Dude. Pour me another."
END of silliness.
BACK TO HOW THIS ALL WORKS
In order for the crop to survive the Roundup spray, Monsanto took the DNA plasmid for EPSPS, and using A. tumefaciens bacteria as the carrier introduced the plasmid into the crop plant. So the plant has the natural EPSPS and also Monsanto's slightly altered GM EPSPS (aka Agrobacterium tumefaciens 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate).
Note:
The shikimic (5-enolpyruvyl--shikimate) acid pathway is a metabolic pathway in plants and microorganisms that synthesizes the aromatic acids phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan. (http://chemistry.umeche.maine.edu/...)
End note
Relative to the toxic dosage of glyphosate in Roundup, the GM NK603 R-tolerant maize plant is, thus, over dosed with EPSPS
OOPS
However, the plasmid Monsanto transferred, unintended, contains some DNA that follows beyond the specific instructions for EPSPS's terminator in the chromosome from which it was removed.
Note: Genes have Start Here and a Stop Here messages within the DNA strand, before and after each gene sequence. That means a specific RNA polymerase that copies a given gene knows where to begin copying and where to end copying. But Monsanto's spliced section of DNA has information not intended to be part of the EPSPS molecule.
When these GM plant's cells with the extra DNA create RNA to blueprint the construction of EPSPS enzyme it is likely creating GM EPSPS molecules with unknown functions within the cells of the plant. (http://www.enveurope.com/...) Thus, potentially exposing the plant and anything that consumes the plant or is exposed to its breakdown products to whatever effect that aberrant fragment of DNA produces, whether it is as an add on to the GM EPSPS molecule, or as a separate unnatural amino acid fragment wandering around in the plant's cells or animal's body after consumption. (http://www.google.com/...)
End note
GM NK603 R-tolerant maize plants do synthesize the needed excess amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan, to make them Roundup resistant.
Not withstanding, this study also showed a statistically significant decrease in the production of estrogenic isoflavones, and phenolic acids like caffeic and ferulic acids in the NK603 GM modified maize used as feed in the study
A possible cause of that could be the result of the DNA fragment.
Note:
Phenolic acids make up about half of the polyphenols in the body. Polyphenols are a large group of molecules that mainly act as antioxidants and can block certain enzymes that are active in the growth of some cancers. (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/...)
Caffeic and ferulic acids both act as antioxidants and have shown potential, in studies, to have antitumor activity.
http://www.sabiosciences.com/...
Estrogenic isoflavones are enzymes that can attach to estrogen receptors on the cell. This naturally reduces the effect of estrogen, which may have a protecting effect in younger animals against some types or tumors of the breast and uterus, but the opposite effect in older animals. http://www.medterms.com/...
End note
OK you can actually stop reading now if all you wanted to know was kind of how Monsanto's Roundup in combo with its GM plants works.
MORE ON HOW ROUNDUP WORKS – GLYPHOSATE
Glyphosate is used as an herbicide under several brand names. Glyphosate is the active ingredient of Roundup. It is the specific inhibitor of the enzyme EPSPS and thus the inhibitor of synthesis of the three amino acids tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine. (http://en.wikipedia.org/...)
Importantly, glyphosate is the only molecule of the Roundup formulation that had been subjected to animal studies before this study was performed.
Glyphosate also interferes with aromatase aka estrogen synthetize or estrogen synthase. Which is an enzyme that is key in the synthesis of estrogen from androgens. Aromatase is found in many of the body's tissues. It is also found in many tumors of the breast and uterus, and is active in early sexual differentiation and sexual development of females. (Wikipedia)
The major residue of glyphosate is aminomethyl phosphonic acid. (AMPA) It is chemically very similar to glyphosate and is of equal toxicity to glyphosate.
(http://www.fao.org/...)
Roundup and its breakdown residues are found in runoff water from the fields where it was used.
One study found higher levels of AMPA, down stream from urban waste water plants than up stream in more agricultural areas. This would point to heavier urban than rural use of glyphosate produces. For example, its use on lawns and golf courses. http://toxics.usgs.gov/...
ADJUVANTS ARE POISONOUS TOO
To facilitate getting the chemically active constituent of Roundup, glyphosate, into the plant, adjuvants (aka surfactants) are used. Their residues have been found in both surface and ground water and are linked to reproductive disruptions in both aquatic life and other wild life that access that water. (http://www.subsport.eu/...)
Some widely used adjuvants are the nonylphenol ethoxylates .They alone are very toxic to aquatic and wild life.
Nonylphenol ethoxylates are used widely in some industrial settings and are common in commercial laundries, which release their waste water directly into the communal waste system.
Though they are not considered to have serious effects on humans they are endocrine disrupting. (http://www.toxipedia.org/...)
The primary residue, nonylphenol, is extremely toxic to aquatic organisms and persists in the environment. (http://www.toxipedia.org/...)
This study comments several times on the lack of research on the effects of the "residue" of Roundup's less "active" ingredients.
AREN'T WE DONE YET?
NOPE SORRY, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE ACTUAL STUDY YET
Sounds of groaning.
"Our study is the first and to date the only attempt to follow up Monsanto's investigation and to determine whether the differences found in the NK603 GM maize-fed rats, especially with respect to liver and kidney function, were not biologically meaningful, as claimed [by Monsanto and others], or whether they developed into serious diseases over an extended period of time.
"Our study design was based on that of the Monsanto investigation in order to make the two experiments comparable, but we extended the period of observation from Monsanto's 90 days to 2 years."
OH, RATS!
Harlan Sprague-Dawley strain of rat was used. The rats were 5 weeks old when the study began. Sprague-Dawley is a strain of the common white lab rat Rattus norvegicus. Specifically Harlan Sprague-Dawley strain is a strain that is considered an all round rat. For purposes of your interpreting the study results it is not a strain developed specifically for oncology studies. It is not specifically bred to be susceptible to tumors and cancers. (Madison, Wisconsin )
Male and Female adult rats were used. Some were fed varying levels of GM NK603 R-tolerant maize feed mixed with non GM feed of the same but unaltered variety. Some were given water with varying amounts of Roundup added to the water. This continued consistently for the two years, when the rats were euthanized and their tissues examined in detail. Control rats were fed and watered in the same manner without the addition of the materials being studied.
Note:
See the "Animals and Treatment" section and the section "Plants, Diets, and Chemicals" of study.
End Note
Blood was collected multiple times during the study. 31 parameters were assessed for chemistry, hematology and coagulation. At the end of the study the animals were euthanized dissected and organs examined for abnormalities.
Note:
The blood collections tests would be comparable to the types of tests run on a thorough physical exam, for example: coagulation 2-3 tests, chemistry 14 or more, hematology 10 to 19 or more. Results are in the study's tables.
End Note
RESULT
Abnormal, damaged and tumorous tissue was found in all the treated rat subjects. Controls were examined in the same manner as the treated rats.
"We report the major findings with 34 organs observed and 56 parameters analyzed at 11 time points for most organs."
Note: The specifics of the organs' examinations and parameters tests' results are in the study and its attachments.
End note
The results show that over the 2 year period rats exposed to levels of Roundup or of the GM NK603 R-tolerant maize, at levels conventionally considered to be safe, did experience serious hormone, hepatic, and kidney abnormalities.
The extent of the damage may be related to the disruption of normal biosynthetic pathways caused by the over expression of EPSPS. (http://en.wikipedia.org/...)
My note: Hepatic refers to the liver. Ingested food moves directly to the liver from the intestines. The liver is the primary organ involved removing toxins but also one of the most susceptible to toxins.
The kidneys (renal) are also particularly at risk from toxins as blood is concentrated during waste removal. Then H2O, hormones, electrolytes etc. are reabsorbed back into the blood and the "cleaned" blood is returned to the overall circulatory system.
End note
As indicated above the study showed a statistically significant decrease in the production of estrogenic isoflavones, and phenolic acids like caffeic and ferulic acids. Disruption in other metabolic and hormonal pathways may be caused by the over expression of EPSPS. " Other mutagenic and metabolic effects of the edible EPSPS maize cannot be excluded"
"Pathologies included pathological signs related to liver, stomach and small intestine. The liver showed congestions, macroscopic spots and microscopic necrotic foci."
"There was pituitary dysfunction, as well adenomas, hyperplasias hypertrophies.
Mammary glands showed fibroadenomas and adenocarcinomas, galactoceles and hyperplasias with atypi. This evidences hormonal imbalance and dysfunction"
Frankenfoods. Indeed.