GMO free Canada

Anthony Samsel - research scientist on GMO and Glyphosate, sent  Tony Mitra this response for his blog : http://www.tonu.org/2014/11/25/gmo-antidemocratic/

December 4, 2014
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Hi Tony,

This is a brief update on my current work…

Today, the vast majority of industrial agriculture is a two part system which consists of the use of genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified (GM) plants and chemical herbicides. Some of these GM plants contain the ability to manufacture insecticidal toxins and may also be resistant to the application of chemical herbicides. My previous work focused on the biochemical effects of the herbicide glyphosate on our biology, as it is the most widely used herbicide on GM crops.

I’m now working on the other side of the industrial agriculture equation, an extensive field experiment with laboratory analysis of 44 varieties of corn, 33 of which are GM patented varieties and four of these represent an isogenic line. These GM varieties contain the major genetically engineered event traits now available from Monsanto, Dow, Dupont and Syngenta. These are all grown by commercial farmers in the USA and many countries around the world.

All of the varieties for these experiments were grown in the same field, under the same conditions and with no added fertilizers or micronutrients. I've done a mineral analysis of the soil from the root zone of all of the corn varieties, to determine minerals available to the plants for assimilation and then quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed the plants themselves for all mineral, fatty acid and vitamin content.

I’m examining how the stacked GM traits of the gene cassettes, which are installed in these corn varieties, influence the uptake of minerals and how the plants then express the fatty acids and vitamin content. These results are being compared to the results of non-GM and ancient corn varieties which make up the balance of the 44 varieties. I’m also looking at how glyphosate influences all of these parameters by spraying half of each variety with glyphosate. I can now tell you that both the GM genes and the use of glyphosate negatively impacts the crop. This is concerning as these varieties are grown as a source of food for humans and feed for animals.

I can also tell you, that GM corn is substantially different from non-GM corn, contrary to FDA and industry claims. In fact the changes are inflammatory to our biology and I will be explaining how, through the biochemistry of minerals and fatty acids. The gene cassette determines the genes and the genes, influence the uptake of minerals and the expression of fatty acids and vitamins. In the sprayed varieties, Glyphosate impacts and causes further disturbances to the minerals, fatty acids and vitamins.

These changes caused by genetic modification and glyphosate herbicide, in concert together in the food, are then responsible for increases in a multitude of modern diseases of unparalleled proportion. These GM crops now make up the majority of the Western Diet which consists of processed food and food oils. The details of this work will be summarized and published in a paper which I’m currently writing.

In the spring of 2015 I will begin the same kind of field and lab experiments with GM and non-GM soy. I am also looking at wheat and have been accumulating samples of both herbicide treated and non-treated wheat obtained from farmers in Canada and the USA. I’m looking for any possible biochemical changes to the wheat and will report findings at the conclusion of the work and again will focus on the biochemical impacts to human physiology.

Anthony

PS: I’m still analyzing plant tissue in the lab as I can afford. Please be patient, this work takes time and I’m working with no funding from my own pocket.