Resurrection of Safety Controversy over Genetically Modified Foods

Since the first transgenic plants were introduced in 1983, the discussion on the safety of genetically modified organisms has not stopped. On November 11 this year, with the release of a research report by the Austrian government, the debate on the safety of genetically modified crops has returned.

The title of this report is "Biological effects of long-term feeding of mice fed with genetically modified hybrid corn." The research project was completed with the support of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth (Family and Youth) and its purpose was to investigate the biological effects of long-term feeding of transgenic hybrid corn.

Within 24 hours of the Austrian government's release of the study, Greenpeace, the international environmental organization, issued a press release on "the latest scientific research confirming the genetically modified corn's ability to affect reproduction," warning that "food genetic modification approvals must be treated with caution."

Genetically modified reproductive capacity?

The transgenic corn selected for this experiment is a hybrid variety of transgenic corn NK603 (resistance herbicide) and transgenic corn MON810 (Bt insect resistance) developed by the United States Mengdushan Company, and has the dual advantages of insect resistance and herbicide.

As early as June 10, 2004, Monsanto filed an application with the European Food Safety Authority, hoping that the transgenic hybrid corn could be circulated in the European Union. On October 13, 2005, the European Food Safety Agency's GM Working Group issued a scientific report on this kind of genetically modified hybrid corn. Its conclusion is that the transgenic hybrid corn is as safe as conventional corn. On October 24, 2007, this GM hybrid corn was officially approved by the European Food Safety Authority and was allowed to be used as food and feed in the European Union.

According to the requirements of the European Food Safety Agency, animal experiments for genetically modified crops require 90 days. However, according to Prof. Juergen Zentek of the University of Vienna, who presided over the study, in such a short period of time, it may not be sufficient to study the changes caused by the accumulation of GM crops in animals.

Therefore, under the auspices of the Austrian government, Professor Zetek and his research team extended the experimental time. He first selected a group of mice as a control group. The feeds consumed from birth to death did not contain any transgenic crops. Then, three groups of mice were selected and the feed consumed by these three groups of mice contained 33% of transgenic hybrid corn.

Among the three groups of mice selected, the first group of mice was observed for only one generation and the study method was the same as the traditional method. The purpose of the study was to observe the effects of transgenic crops on contemporary mice; the observations of the second group of mice exceeded. For 4 generations, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the reproductive ability of each generation of mice by observing the difference in the number of offspring of each generation of mice and each generation of mice. This method is also commonly used in long-term experiments. However, in the third group of experimental groups, Zetke studied the effects of the accumulation of genetically modified crops on their reproductive capacity in a generation of mice and four litters of mice born in this generation of mice. .

After 20 weeks of observation, Zetek found that the number of mice in the third and fourth litters produced by the third group of mice was higher than those in mice fed the non-GM feed. Reduced.

In response to this research result, Monsanto also issued a statement on its official website on November 12 stating that the results of the study have not yet been reviewed by peers, but Monsanto will review the report in its entirety.

The statement also pointed out that the transgenic hybrid corn is a hybrid of transgenic corn NK603 (resistance to herbicide) and transgenic corn MON810 (Bt resistance). Both of these GM corns have been authorized for use in multiple countries in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Up to now, these two kinds of transgenic corn have passed the tests and safety evaluation for many years, and are recognized in more than 20 countries.

In a telephone interview with the "Financials" reporter, Professor Zetke also admitted that in another study, the difference between mice fed with genetically modified feed and mice fed without genetically modified feed was virtually insignificant. There is no statistically significant difference; that is, both are statistically the same. Therefore, the extent to which the descendants of mice have been reduced is related to genetically modified corn, and the current research data is not sufficient.

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