Séralini study: Science speaks for itself

GMOSeralini.org has welcomed the news of the republication of the chronic toxicity study on the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup and a commercialized genetically modified maize, Monsanto’s NK603, led by Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini. The republication restores the study to the peer-reviewed literature so that it can be consulted and built upon by other scientists. It can be found at Environmental Sciences Europe.

The study found severe liver and kidney damage and hormonal disturbances in rats fed the GM maize and low levels of Roundup that are below those permitted in drinking water in the EU. Toxic effects were found from the GM maize tested alone, as well as from Roundup tested alone and together with the maize. Additional unexpected findings were higher rates of large tumours and mortality in most treatment groups. The study was first published in Food and Chemical Toxicology (FCT) in September 2012 but was retracted by the editor-in-chief in November 2013 after a sustained campaign of criticism and defamation by pro-GMO scientists.

The republished version contains extra material addressing criticisms of the original publication. The raw data underlying the study’s findings are also published – unlike the raw data for the industry studies that underlie regulatory approvals of Roundup, which are kept secret. However, the new paper presents the same results as before and the conclusions are unchanged. It is accompanied by a separate commentary by Prof Séralini’s team describing the lobbying efforts of GMO crop supporters to force the editor of FCT to retract the original publication. The full article is available here.
 

The Cornucopia Institute comments that scientists associated with the biotechnology industry will again attack the veracity of Séralini's work. Other scientists have already defended his research while other independent researchers take a more nuanced and skeptical view of his paper. There is no doubt that not enough research has been done assuring the public that consuming genetically engineered food, organisms that have never existed on earth before let alone as a part of the human diet, are safe to consume., according to the institute. More information is available here.