New Study Links GMO Food To Leukemia

New Study Links GMO Food To Leukemia
Sayer Ji


Activist Post

A new study, yet to receive any media attention, reveals the
"leukemogenic" properties of the Bt toxin biopesticides engineered into
the vast majority of GMO food crops already within the US food supply.

Last September, the causal link between cancer and genetically modified
food was confirmed in a French study, the first independent long-term
animal feeding study of its kind. The disturbing details can be found
here: New Study Finds GM Corn and Roundup Causes Cancer In Rats

Now, a new study published in the Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Diseases
indicates that the biopesticides engineered into GM crops known as
Bacillus Thuringensis (Bt) or Cry-toxins, may also contribute to blood
abnormalities from anemia to hematological malignancies (blood cancers)
such as leukemia.[i]

A group of scientists from the Department of Genetics
and Morphology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of
Brasilia, Brasilia/DF, Brazil set out to test the purported human and
environmental biosafety of GM crops, looking particularly at the role
that the Bt toxin found within virtually all GM food crops plays on
non-target or non-insect animal species.

The research was spurned by the Brazilian Collegiate Board of Directors
of the National Sanitary Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), who advocated in
2005 for evaluations of toxicity and pathogenicity of microbiological
control agents such as Bt, given that little is known about their
toxicological potential in non-target organisms, including humans.

While Bacillus Thurigensis spore-crystals have been used since the late
1960's in agriculture as a foliar insecticide, it was only after the
advent of recombinant DNA biotechnology that these toxin-producing genes
(known as delta endotoxins) were first inserted into the plants
themselves and released into commercial production in the mid-90's,
making their presence in the US food supply and the bodies of exposed
populations ubiquitous.


What the new study revealed is that various binary combinations and
doses of Bt toxins target mammalian cells, particularly the erythroid
(red blood cell) lineage, resulting in white and red blood cell changes
indicative of significant damage. Some of these adverse changes included anemia,and suppression of bone marrow proliferation and abnormal lymphocyte changes consistent with some types of leukemia.

The researchers also found that one of the prevailing myths about the
selective toxicity of Bt to insects, the target species, no longer holds
true:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">It has been reported that Cry toxins exert
their toxicity when activated at alkaline pH of the digestive tract of
susceptible larvae, and, because the physiology of the mammalian
digestive system does not allow their activation, and no known specific
receptors in mammalian intestinal cells have been reported, the
toxicity these MCAs to mammals would negligible [8,22,23]. However,
our study demonstrated that Bt spore-crystals genetically modified to
express individually Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac or Cry2A induced
hematotoxicity, particularly to the erythroid lineage. This finding
corroborates literature that demonstrated that alkali-solubilized Bt
spore-crystals caused in vitro hemolysis in cell lines of rat, mouse,
sheep, horse, and human erythrocytes and suggested that the plasma
membrane of susceptible cells (erythrocytes, in this case) may be the
primary target for these toxins [33]</blockquote>The study also found:

1)
That Cry toxins are capable of exerting their adverse effects when
suspended in distilled water, not requiring alkalinization via insect
physiology to become activated as formerly believed.

2) That a dose of Cry1Ab as low as 27 mg/kg, their lowest tested dose,
was capable of inducing hypochromic anemia in mice – the very toxin has
been detected in blood of non-pregnant women, pregnant women and their
fetuses in Canada, supposedly exposed through diet.

3) Whereas past reports have found that Bt toxins are generally nontoxic
and do not bioaccumulate in fatty tissue or persist in the environment,
the new study demonstrated that all Cry toxins tested had a more
pronounced effect from 72 hours of exposure onwards, indicating the
opposite is true.

4) That high-dose Cry toxin doses caused blood changes indicative of
bone marrow damage (damage to "hematopoietic stem cell or bone marrow
stroma").

The authors noted their results "demonstrate leukemogenic activity for other spore-crystals not yet reported in the literature."

They concluded:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">[R]esults showed that the Bt spore-crystals
genetically modified to express individually Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac or
Cry2A can cause some hematological risks to vertebrates,increasing their
toxic effects with long-term exposure. Taking into account the
increased risk of human and animal exposures to significant levels of
these toxins, especially through diet, our results suggest that further
studies are required to clarify the mechanism involved in the
hematotoxicity found in mice, and to establish the toxicological risks
to non-target organisms, especially mammals, before concluding that
these microbiological control agents are safe for mammals.</blockquote>Did you get that? Their conclusion is that it is premature to consider GM toxins to be safe in mammals. Billions have already been exposed to Bt toxins, in combination with glyphosate-based herbicide
formulations such as Roundup, and yet, most biotech research scientists
and industry regulators still claim they are unequivocally safe. This
has much to do with the well-known relationship that biotech
corporations like Monsanto have with so-called 'check book' science
firms who are basically paid to obfuscate adverse health outcomes of
their products, such as the GMO-Cancer link. [see: Monsanto-Funded Science Denies Emerging Roundup Cancer Link]

Consider also that the question of combined toxicity of Cry toxins and
glyphosate-based residues within plants have not been sufficiently
explored, and that glyphosate exposure has already been linked to
non-Hodgkins lymphoma and hairy cell leukemia in the biomedical
literature.[ii]

The
reality is that we no longer have time to wait around for additional
research to accumulate on the adverse health effects of GMOs, especially
considering the biotech industry has far more capital to infuse into
their own faux research on the topic.

Some, in fact, argue that we should not be waiting around for the
corrupt legislative process to compel manufacturers to label GMOs,
rather, we should be fighting to BAN THEM NOW, advocating for the
precautionary principle before its too late.

In the meantime, you can join the growing movement to March Against Monsanto,
occurring world wide on May 25th, as a way of expressing your desire
for real change, as well as vote with your forks, the only immediately
effective tool we have against biological and environmental gene-ocide
articulated by the dominant GMO-based food system.

Source:-
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/05/new-study-links-gmo-food-to-leukemia.html