I listened to an excellent interview of Dr. Thierry Vrain, soil biologist and genetic scientist, who retired from science because of his conscientious objection of working in the GMO research. He now works on a farm with his wife who is a herbalist, and with other scientists is lecturing to help educate the public to the dangers and pervasiveness of GMO foods. The US needs to wake up fast because most countries in the world have rejected GMOs for good reason. It offers no benefits except to the corporate monopoly and destroys soil and causes disease as RP says we are eating "foods" that human beings never consumed before. Dr. Vrain calls it "madness."
He also stated that in his opinion the best way for the public to try to stop the GMOs is :
educaion re GMOs
public boycott of these products
From Ray Peat
RU486, Cancer, Estrogen, and Progesterone.
Monsanto and the Pentagon believe they can use reductionist molecular biology to predict, manipulate, and control life processes, but so far it is only their ability to damage organisms that has been demonstrated.
Dr. Vrain's interview
http://commonground.ca/2013/10/dr-thier ... tleblower/
Important highlights of Dr. Thierry Vrain's interview
Q: As a soil biologist, what are the effects of GMO crops on the soil?
A: Roundup (Monsanto’s herbicide) is a chelator; it holds manganese, magnesium and a few other minerals. It holds the minerals and doesn’t let go so basically it starves the plant. It probably also starves many other creatures in the soil, but I don’t think that is documented.
There are a good number of studies now showing that engineered plants have proteins that are quite different than the proteins that are expected, so-called rogue proteins. These proteins are truncated; they are different. They might function as a protein to kill caterpillars, for example. Or they might not. But they are different and that difference has not been investigated. Basically, the dogma is you put in a gene and you get the protein you want. So much so that the regulatory agencies, when they want to test for the safety of genetically engineered crops, all they need to show is that the protein that was inserted into the plant is safe, but they don’t go and test the new protein actually created in the plant.
Q: What do you think of Big Biotech claims that they have the answer to feeding the world, increasing crop yields, decreasing use of pesticides and herbicides, and lowering costs?
A: Charles Benbrook, head of the Union of Concerned Scientists from California, who put together the statistics from the USDA to see if there was an increase in yield, discovered that there is no increase in yield, and, in fact, there is a slight decrease, that some of the engineered crops are not as good as the conventional crops. Herbicide use is actually increasing. People are really concerned because there are now Super Weeds resistant to this technology. The GE herbicide is basically useless when the weeds become resistant. This was predicted 25 years ago. Same thing happened with insect resistance. It builds up, so if there is a saving of insecticide today, it will disappear in the next few years. Farmers are now encouraged to spray insecticide on the Bt crops so the insects don’t become resistant to the particular genetically engineered technology… it’s madness!
Q: The 2008 film The World According to Monsanto exposed the revolving door between the bio-tech industry and government.
A: I read that Dr. Shiv Chopra was offered a million dollars to close his eyes and sign off on the RBGH incident but he refused and was fired because he just wouldn’t shut up. [Editor’s Note: Drs. Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gérard Lambert are former Health Canada scientists who were dismissed for “insubordination” in 2004 after publicly expressing serious reservations about the approval of products they believed would harm the food chain and ultimately threaten the well-being of Canadians. A cross Canada public speaking tour, starting in BC, with Dr. Chopra and Dr. Vrain, is in the planning stage for the second half of November.]
Q: I read in Seeds of Deception about the random insertion of the genes, that there is no way it can be precise, which you have confirmed. So why do scientists claim precision when genetically altering nature?
A: It is about the money. Again, it becomes very important for the biotech companies to push aside the studies that are not confirming the corporate line or questioning safety. But it’s simpler. Most investors in the biotech companies just want to make money… it’s the bottom line. They may think if they can get away with selling it then why not?
Q: Are they still getting away with it?
A: They are getting away with it. You may be questioning it; you may be avoiding GMOs and I certainly am and we may be kicking the giants. But, really, quite frankly, they (have no shame) buying the courts, the governments and the Senate.
Q: But they didn’t fully buy everybody in Europe … there’s enough resistance in Europe.
A: No they didn’t buy everyone in Europe, but they sure tried. There are basically about five countries in the world that grow GMO crops… India, Argentina, Canada, the US and a couple of others and there’s some 20 countries that actually do not require labeling or have no restrictions. All over Europe there is labeling and as soon as you have labeling, there are no more GMOs because people don’t want them.
He also stated that in his opinion the best way for the public to try to stop the GMOs is :
educaion re GMOs
public boycott of these products
From Ray Peat
RU486, Cancer, Estrogen, and Progesterone.
Monsanto and the Pentagon believe they can use reductionist molecular biology to predict, manipulate, and control life processes, but so far it is only their ability to damage organisms that has been demonstrated.
Dr. Vrain's interview
http://commonground.ca/2013/10/dr-thier ... tleblower/
Important highlights of Dr. Thierry Vrain's interview
Q: As a soil biologist, what are the effects of GMO crops on the soil?
A: Roundup (Monsanto’s herbicide) is a chelator; it holds manganese, magnesium and a few other minerals. It holds the minerals and doesn’t let go so basically it starves the plant. It probably also starves many other creatures in the soil, but I don’t think that is documented.
There are a good number of studies now showing that engineered plants have proteins that are quite different than the proteins that are expected, so-called rogue proteins. These proteins are truncated; they are different. They might function as a protein to kill caterpillars, for example. Or they might not. But they are different and that difference has not been investigated. Basically, the dogma is you put in a gene and you get the protein you want. So much so that the regulatory agencies, when they want to test for the safety of genetically engineered crops, all they need to show is that the protein that was inserted into the plant is safe, but they don’t go and test the new protein actually created in the plant.
Q: What do you think of Big Biotech claims that they have the answer to feeding the world, increasing crop yields, decreasing use of pesticides and herbicides, and lowering costs?
A: Charles Benbrook, head of the Union of Concerned Scientists from California, who put together the statistics from the USDA to see if there was an increase in yield, discovered that there is no increase in yield, and, in fact, there is a slight decrease, that some of the engineered crops are not as good as the conventional crops. Herbicide use is actually increasing. People are really concerned because there are now Super Weeds resistant to this technology. The GE herbicide is basically useless when the weeds become resistant. This was predicted 25 years ago. Same thing happened with insect resistance. It builds up, so if there is a saving of insecticide today, it will disappear in the next few years. Farmers are now encouraged to spray insecticide on the Bt crops so the insects don’t become resistant to the particular genetically engineered technology… it’s madness!
Q: The 2008 film The World According to Monsanto exposed the revolving door between the bio-tech industry and government.
A: I read that Dr. Shiv Chopra was offered a million dollars to close his eyes and sign off on the RBGH incident but he refused and was fired because he just wouldn’t shut up. [Editor’s Note: Drs. Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gérard Lambert are former Health Canada scientists who were dismissed for “insubordination” in 2004 after publicly expressing serious reservations about the approval of products they believed would harm the food chain and ultimately threaten the well-being of Canadians. A cross Canada public speaking tour, starting in BC, with Dr. Chopra and Dr. Vrain, is in the planning stage for the second half of November.]
Q: I read in Seeds of Deception about the random insertion of the genes, that there is no way it can be precise, which you have confirmed. So why do scientists claim precision when genetically altering nature?
A: It is about the money. Again, it becomes very important for the biotech companies to push aside the studies that are not confirming the corporate line or questioning safety. But it’s simpler. Most investors in the biotech companies just want to make money… it’s the bottom line. They may think if they can get away with selling it then why not?
Q: Are they still getting away with it?
A: They are getting away with it. You may be questioning it; you may be avoiding GMOs and I certainly am and we may be kicking the giants. But, really, quite frankly, they (have no shame) buying the courts, the governments and the Senate.
Q: But they didn’t fully buy everybody in Europe … there’s enough resistance in Europe.
A: No they didn’t buy everyone in Europe, but they sure tried. There are basically about five countries in the world that grow GMO crops… India, Argentina, Canada, the US and a couple of others and there’s some 20 countries that actually do not require labeling or have no restrictions. All over Europe there is labeling and as soon as you have labeling, there are no more GMOs because people don’t want them.
