Last month, I told you about the alarming destruction of millions of honeybees in our country. I showed you that a possible cause of this is genetically modified organisms. Some, including the New York Times, dismiss this theory. But the evidence, as I showed you, is overwhelming. And there is a lot more.
Cornell University posted research on May 19, 1999 that should have sent shivers down the spine of Monsanto and all the lawmakers whose palms are greased by the corporation. The larvae of monarch butterflies (the immature form of the beautiful insect) feed exclusively on milkweed. Of course, milkweed is not a genetically engineered plant. But there was still a massive die off of the beautiful creatures. Why?
Cornell’s researchers said: In the laboratory tests, monarchs fed milkweed leaves dusted with so-called transformed pollen from a Bt-corn hybrid ate less, grew more slowly and suffered a higher mortality rate, the researchers report. Nearly half of these larvae died, while all the monarch caterpillars fed leaves dusted with non=transformed corn pollen or fed leaves without corn pollen survived the study.
But that is not all. In June 2005, a German appeals court allowed public access to crude data of a rat study involving Monsanto GM corn. (Its interesting that they had to take Monsanto to court to find the horrors hidden by the chemical and Big Pharma giant.)
According to the study, the authors re-analyzed the data between GMO treated rats and controls fed with an equivalent normal diet. (I am glad they called non-GMO food normal.) The researchers found slight, but definite dose-related variations in the rats growth. Some of the GMO-fed rats demonstrated signs of hepatorenal toxicity. That means toxicity to the liver and kidneys. Triglycerides increased by 24-40%, urine phosphorus and sodium excretion diminished by 31-35%. The scientists say longer experiments are essential to indicate the real nature and extent of the possible pathology; with the present data, it cannot be concluded that GM corn is a safe product. (Emphasis added.)
While bees do not eat corn pollen, you probably eat GMO corn. Researchers in Europe do not think its safe. I do not think its safe. Now we must help our government see that its not safe. I am glad the Europeans have the fortitude to stand up against it. We should do the same.
Ref: The Observer/The Guardian, May 28, 2000.