Largest independent’ study on crop biotechnology under scrutiny

The Factor GMO is a project primarily organized by a Russian NGO called the National Association for Genetic Safety (NAGS) and claims to be the worlds largest independent study of GMO safety, explains the Genetic Literacy. Its leaders promise to release the results with all transparency and details in the coming years.

In November 2014, the group announced it would undertake a $25 million study of 6,000 rats, which were to be fed a GMO corn diet for a two to three year period with a goal of providing an independent examination of the health impacts of GMO corn and the herbicide used on it. The research is to be done in Russia and western Europe.

As of June 2016, no updates, subsequent findings or details of the study’s methodology have been released or provided. The organization has not issued any new releases since April of 2015, when it praised the the classification of glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ by the World Health Organization’s IARC.

Much of the criticism surrounding the organization is its lack of funding transparency. The organizers claim the study will be fully transparent in regards to funders, promising a list of financial backers when the study commences in 2015. To date though, no such list has ever been published.

Factor GMO also promises on its site the study will not take any money from “industry that manufactures GM crops and their associated pesticides.” However, it is unclear if it will take money from organizations and industries that would financially benefit from study results that paint GMOs in a negative light, like the organic food industry.