MON 863: Difference between revisions

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'''MON 863''' is a [[genetically modified]] (GM) variety of maize produced by [[Monsanto Company]] and approved for human consumption in the [[European Union]].

In 1989 a 90-day rat-feeding trial done by the FDA, 40 rats that were fed the Bt corn developed multiple reactions typically found in response to allergies, infections, toxins and diseases. Seralini et al.<ref>{{cite web

|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/02648wu132m07804/

|title=New Analysis of a Rat Feeding Study with a Genetically Modified Maize Reveals Signs of Hepatorenal Toxicity

|publisher=

|accessdate=2010-01-13

|last=

|first=

}}</ref> reviewed the study as part of the French Commission for Biomolecular Genetics and said that the response by the rats were similar to reactions caused by pesticides. Although the Bt-toxin is a pesticide, he points out that animal research on pesticide-producing corn is nowhere as thorough as that required for approval of pesticides. Follow-up studies on these serious findings were demanded from organisations worldwide. None were conducted and the corn was approved.

Monsanto defended its corn's safety in ways that disregarded accepted scientific methods and principles and claimed that the results of this study were not statistically significant. Monsanto researchers used six additional control groups, each fed commercial corn varieties with quite different genetics. While such comparisons are suitable for commercial studies, they are entirely inappropriate for safety assessments. Monsanto claimed that since some reactions were no longer significant when compared to these other groups, the changes were unimportant. For some results, that remained statistically significant even when compared to these irrelevant controls, Monsanto claimed the changes fell within a wide range of variability that is normal for rats. They stated, for example, that a 52% decrease in immature red blood cells (reticulocytes) was "attributable to normal biological variability", and a 10% increase in blood sugar levels was biologically insignificant. According to Arpad Pusztai an allowance of 5% variability is the norm in food experiments and a 10% rise in blood sugar has serious ramifications, given the epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Several changes were still significantly outside the generous range that Monsanto defined as normal and acceptable. For some of these, they claimed that the health effects were not diet-related because the reactions were not consistent between males and females. (Scientists studying cancer and endocrinology, for example, have established that genders can respond to toxins and disease quite differently). Monsanto also dismissed other findings on the basis that the intensity of reactions was greater in rats fed a diet with 11% of MON 863 compared to the group that ate 33%. (In endocrinology and immunology research responses are not always consistent with dosage. For example, a small amount of a hormone can cause a woman to ovulate, while a larger dose can make her infertile.)

An Appeal Court action in Germany (Münster) allowed public access in June 2005 to all the crude data from the original 90-day rat-feeding study.

In 2007, a reanalysis of the data provided in 2002 by Monsanto stated that "with the present data it cannot be concluded that GM corn MON 863 is a safe product."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gilles-Eric Seralini; Dominique Cellier; Joel Spiroux de Vendomois |title=New Analysis of a Rat Feeding Study with a Genetically Modified Maize Reveals Signs of Hepatorenal Toxicity |journal=Environmental Contamination and Toxicology |volume=52 |pages=596–602 |date=2007 |publisher=Springer}}</ref> The French biomolecular engineering commission, the ''Commission du Génie Biomoléculaire'' (CGB), reviewed this study at the request of the French Ministry of Agriculture, but concluded that there were no new elements proving the toxicity of MON 863 in this new analysis, the statistical significance of the initial samples provided by Monsanto being too weak.<ref>[http://www.ogm.gouv.fr/experimentations/evaluation_scientifique/cgb/autres_avis/Avis_CGB_MON863_15juin2007.pdf Report from the CGB].</ref>

The Australian government analyzed the data and determined that the variations found were due to normal physiologic variation in test animals and also licensed MON 863 for food and feed use.<ref>{{cite web

|url=http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/factsheets/factsheets2007/updatemon863cornsafe3508.cfm

|title=Update: MON863 corn safety assessment

|publisher=Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

|accessdate=2010-01-13

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|first=

}}</ref><ref>{{cite web

|url=http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/Assessment%20MON863%20feeding%20study.pdf

|title=Review of 13-Week Rat Feeding Study with MON863 Corn

|publisher=Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

|accessdate=2010-01-13

|last=

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}}</ref>

Following legal action by parties including the [[Swedish Board of Agriculture]] and [[Greenpeace]], a [[Münster]] appeals court ruled that Monsanto would be forced to publicly reveal its research data.<ref name='Reilly 2010-01-23'> {{cite news | first = Michael | last = Reilly | title = Is Genetically Modified Corn Toxic? | date = 2010-01-23 | url = http://news.discovery.com/earth/is-genetically-modified-corn-toxic.html | work = Discovery News | accessdate = 2010-07-21}}</ref>

==Modified mechanisms==

MON 863 was engineered to contain genes for modified ''[[Bacillus thuringiensis]]'' [[Cry3Bb1]] protein.<ref name='Doull 2007 genetics'> {{cite journal | title = Report of an Expert Panel on the reanalysis by of a 90-day study conducted by Monsanto in support of the safety of a genetically modified corn variety (MON 863). | journal = Food and Chemical Toxicology | date = November 2007 | first = J. | last = Doull | coauthors = D. Gaylor, H.A. Greim, D.P. Lovell, B. Lynch, I.C. Munro | volume = 45 | issue = 11 | pages = 2073-2085| id = PMID 17900781 {{doi | 10.1016/j.fct.2007.08.033}} | url = http://www.ask-force.org/web/Food/Doull-Report-Seralini-2007.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate = 2010-07-21|quote=MON 863, a genetically engineered corn variety that contains the gene for modified Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3Bb1 protein to protect against corn rootworm, was tested in a 90-day toxicity study as part of the process to gain regulatory approval.}}</ref> This protects the plant from [[corn rootworm]] and [[European Corn Borer]] larvae.<ref name='Doull 2007 genetics' /><ref name='Coghlan 2010-01-22'> {{cite news | first = Andy | last = Coghlan | title = Engineered maize toxicity claims roundly rebuffed | date = 2010-01-22 | url = http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527444.000-engineered-maize-toxicity-claims-roundly-rebuffed.html | work = New Scientist | accessdate = 2010-07-21}}</ref>

==Effects of consumption==

Monsanto's research data was analyzed in 2007 by researchers from the [[Committee of Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering]], [[University of Caen Lower Normandy|Caen University]] and the [[University of Rouen]].<ref name='TGR'> {{cite web | url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpq6C4VND0A | title = Monsanto GMOs Linked To Organ Failure | accessdate = 2010-07-21 | date = 2010-01-07 | work = The Global Report | publisher = [[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref name='Z Magazine Ananda 2010'> {{cite journal | title = Three Approved GMOs Linked to Organ Damage | journal = Z Magazine | date = 2010 | first = Rady | last = Ananda | volume = 23 | issue = 3| id = | url = http://www.zcommunications.org/three-approved-gmos-linked-to-organ-damage-by-rady-ananda.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate = 2010-07-21|quote=The data "clearly underlines adverse impacts on kidneys and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, as well as different levels of damages to heart, adrenal glands, spleen, and haematopoietic system," reported Gilles-Eric Séralini, a molecular biologist at Caen University.}}</ref> This study concluded that experiments longer than 90-days must be conducted before the safety of MON 863 can be known.<ref name='Seralini 2007-03-13'> {{cite journal | title = New Analysis of a Rat Feeding Study with a Genetically Modified Maize Reveals Signs of Hepatorenal Toxicity | journal = Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology | date = 2007-03-13 | first = Gilles-Eric | last = Séralini | coauthors = Dominique Cellier, Joël Spiroux de Vendomois | volume = 52 | issue = 4 | pages = 596-602| id = PMID 17356802 {{doi | 10.1007/s00244-006-0149-5}} | accessdate = 2010-07-21|quote=Longer experiments are essential in order to indicate the real nature and extent of the possible pathology; with the present data it cannot be concluded that GM corn MON863 is a safe product}}</ref> Furthermore, according to Séralini, the data is clear in that MON 863 adversely affects [[liver]] and [[kidney]] function, as well as causes varying degrees of damage to the [[adrenal glands]], [[heart]], [[spleen]], and other components of the haematopoietic system.<ref name='Z Magazine Ananda 2010' /> Following the study, a panel was formed to investigate the study, which objected to the study's findings.<ref name='Doull 2007 conclusions'> {{cite journal | title = Report of an Expert Panel on the reanalysis by of a 90-day study conducted by Monsanto in support of the safety of a genetically modified corn variety (MON 863). | journal = Food and Chemical Toxicology | date = November 2007 | first = J. | last = Doull | coauthors = D. Gaylor, H.A. Greim, D.P. Lovell, B. Lynch, I.C. Munro | volume = 45 | issue = 11 | pages = 2073-2085| id = PMID 17900781 {{doi | 10.1016/j.fct.2007.08.033}} | url = http://www.ask-force.org/web/Food/Doull-Report-Seralini-2007.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate = 2010-07-21|quote=The Se´ralini et al. reanalysis does not advance any new scientific data to indicate that MON 863 caused adverse effects in the 90-day rat study.}}</ref> The panel's critical claims were also the subject of a subsequent article in ''[[Le Figaro]]'', titled "''European Experts claim GMO is harmless''", to which Séralini responded: "Our paper was not particularly alarmist, but by far, one of the longest and most detailed study ever published on a toxicological analysis on mammals consuming a commercialized GMO." "39 signs of toxicity were observed on the livers and kidneys of the laboratory mammals consuming genetically modified (GM) maize MON863 over a 3 month period", and "there is confirmed tissue damage after the consumption of the MON863 GM maize, in the kidneys of young male rats aged 5 months, with a chronic nephropathy at stage 18/20 (the non-GM control group was only 14/20). This was also described by the Monsanto team themselves and then written between the lines".<ref name='Séralini 2010-04-17'> {{cite web | url = http://www.criigen.org/SiteEn/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=99 | title = CRIIGEN's Response to the Figaro | accessdate = 2010-07-21 | last = Séralini | first = Gilles-Eric | date = 2010-04-17 | work = The Committee for Research and Independent Information on Genetic Engineering | archivedate=2010-07-21|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5rNihFn4m}}</ref> Greenpeace also cited the study in a press report, in which it demanded that MON 863 be completely recalled from the global market and called for a strict review of current testing methods.<ref name='Greenpeace March 2007'> {{cite web | url = http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/gp_briefing_seralini_study.pdf | title = Regulatory systems for GE crops a failure: the case of MON863. | accessdate = 2010-07-21 | format = PDF | publisher = [[Greenpeace]] | quote = Greenpeace demands an immediate and complete recall of MON863 from the global market. We also call upon governments to undertake an urgent reassessment of all other authorised GE products and a strict review of current testing methods.}}</ref>

In December 2009, a second study was published in the [[International Journal of Biological Sciences]]. In the study, findings of hepatorenal toxicity were reaffirmed, and concerns of metabolic consequences were further raised.<ref name='IJBS 2009-12-10'> {{cite journal | title = A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health | journal = International Journal of Biological Sciences | date = 2009-12-10 | first = Joël Spiroux | last = de Vendômois | coauthors = François Roullier, Dominique Cellier, Gilles-Eric Séralini | volume = 5 | issue = 7 | pages = 706-726| id = PMID 20011136 | url = http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm | accessdate = 2010-07-21}}</ref>

The Huffington Post concurred that Monsanto's 90-day study was insufficient to determine potential health effects, as chronic organ problems are rarely evident within such a short amount of time.<ref name='Goldstein 2010-03-18'> {{cite news | first = Katherine | last = Goldstein | coauthors = Gazelle Emami | title =Monsanto's GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals | date = 2010-03-18 | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html | work = The Huffington Post | accessdate = 2010-07-21}}</ref>

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:MON 863}}

[[Category:Maize]]

[[Category:Genetically modified organisms in agriculture]]

[[fr:MON 863]]