A new study has revealed that laboratory rats fed a diet of GM maize (NK 603 by Monsanto) will contract cancerous tumours and other disorders which will prematurely end their lives.
How come this has not shown up before ? Well, until now most studies involving GM crops lasted only 3 months. Too short a time to determine whether there were likely to be any adverse effects.
The new conclusions published in the US magazine Food and Chemical Toxicology (Link to article) are based on the findings of a 4 year long series of experiments carried out since 2007, and in the utmost secrecy, by a team of French researchers.
Rats were fed GM maize, GM maize treated with Roundup, or if they were fed neither, given water containing concentrations of Roundup commonly found in the environment of GM cultivation.
After 13 months of these diets female rats contracted large tumours (up to 25% of their body weight), whereas males suffered significant or severe kidney or liver disorders.
The authors of the article call for long-term studies to evaluate GMO's and related pesticides.
We have always been assured that GM crops pose no threat. This news seems to contradict these assurances.
Why have we heard nothing about this in the UK ?
Article in Nouvel Observateur (France)
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