GMO Research
Abstract: Indiscriminate use of 2, 4-D or hormone type weed sprays in the 1945 season in southern New Mexico resulted in very abnormal growth of cotton in adjacent areas, the amount of injury depending on degree and time of contamination. Materials used for the experiments presented herein were not absorbed from the ground surface or …
Abstract: Since large-scale commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) crops began in 1996, a concern has been that non-GM crops may become contaminated by GM crops and that wild or weedy relatives of GM crops growing outside of cultivated areas could become contaminated. The GM Contamination Register contains records of GM contamination incidents since 1997 and …
Abstract: The objective of this study was to survey pedigreed canola (Brassica napus L.) seedlots for contaminating herbicide resistance traits because of complaints from farmers regarding glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine]-resistant canola volunteers occurring unexpectedly in their fields at densities and in patterns that suggested that pollen-mediated gene flow from neighboring fields in previous years was not the …
Abstract: Twenty-five farm (F) households and 25 nonfarm (NF) households in Iowa were enrolled in a study investigating agricultural pesticide contamination inside homes. Air, surface wipe, and dust samples were collected. Samples from 39 homes (20 F and 19 NF) were analyzed for atrazine, metolachlor, acetochlor, alachlor, and chlorpyrifos. Samples from 11 homes (5 F …
Abstract: So far, relatively few genetically modified plants (GMPs) have been planted in the European Union (EU). However, in France, seed batches weakly contaminated by unidentified GM materials have recently been detected among commercial maize seeds (14 seed batches positive out of 447 analyzed). We have developed a 3-step approach to precisely identify the genetic …
Abstract: Between the years 1979 and 1984, investigations were conducted into 311 events of suspected contaminations of wells with pesticides. This involved the analyses of water from 359 wells where the suspected contamination originated from (i) spills (ii) spray drift or (iii) surface runoff waters carrying pesticides into wells. Investigations covered 83 spill events involving …
Abstract: An analysis of selected datasets from the FDA’s drug Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) leads us to hypothesize that glyphosate contamination in both food and drugs is a major contributor to chronic and acute kidney failure respectively. In chronic kidney failure, glyphosate-induced pancreatitis results in the release of trypsin, causing a leaky vasculature. The albumin-bound …
Introduction: Human society relies on surface freshwater ecosystems for many goods and services (drinking water, recreational facilities…), which places these systems at the center of a web of ecological, economic and political interests (Wilson & Carpenter, 1999). They are also being subjected to increasing pressure resulting from anthropogenic activities, including contamination by a variety of …
Abstract: Background Railway tracks represent a highly interlinked habitat with numerous possibilities for accidental entry of oilseed rape due to seed spill during transportation. Moreover, glyphosate is regularly employed to control the vegetation, increasing the possibility of establishment for plants resistant to it. We surveyed the presence of genetically engineered glyphosate tolerant oilseed rape (Brassica …
Abstract: Our original publication contained two separate conclusions derived from two methodological approaches. First, using PCR, we detected the presence of three distinct transgenic DNA sequences in maize landraces in Oaxaca, Mexico. Second, we attempted to establish the genomic context of transgene insertion using i-PCR. The criticisms raised by Metz and Fütterer and by Kaplinsky …
Abstract: Glyphosate is a herbicide with the greatest potential risk to human health because it is the most commercialized in the world, in Brazil and in State of Piauí. Based on this reality, this study aimed to evaluate the contamination of maternal milk by glyphosate agrotoxic in puerperas attended at public maternity hospitals in Piauí. …
Abstract: Often the limits of detection of genetically engineered organisms (GEOs, LMOs, GMOs) determine what legislation sets as thresholds of allowable contamination of the human food chain with GEOs. Many countries have legislation that is triggered by certain thresholds of contamination. Importantly, international trade in food and animal feed is becoming increasingly vulnerable to interruptions …
Text: As appreciated by Darwin (1881), earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) play crucial roles in the formation and maintenance of fertile soils. Thus, they may be considered ‘keystone’ species as targets of the anthropogenic contamination of terrestrial ecosystems (Greig-Smith et al. 1992). Also, earthworms increasingly are being considered as sentinels, or biomarkers, of soil health and integrity …
Text: Genetically engineered (GE) crops have been a contentious issue from the start, with heated debate between supporters and detractors. Much of this exchange has taken place behind the scenes, inside regulatory bureaucracies. Recently, however, the debate about transgenic crops has re‐emerged into the public spotlight, driven by a convergence of environmental and economic concerns. …
Abstract: This article highlights some of the hundreds of cases of genetic contamination that have been registered in different regions of the world by the organizations GeneWatch and Greenpeace International. You will be reading about confirmed cases in Costa Rica of GMO contamination of seeds and foods imported from abroad. There are comments on the …
Text: I am writing in response to the Editorial in the December issue entitled “Label without a cause,”1 which contained factual errors. The statement “Perhaps Vermont’s legislators should consider ‘may contain’ labels for radioisotopes, mercury, cadmium, bird feces, microbial poisons and explosives—ingredients that are present in all foods, albeit at undetectable levels” is wrong on …
Abstract: Antibiotic resistance genes may be considered as environmental pollutants if anthropogenic emission and manipulations increase their prevalence above usually occurring background levels. The prevalence of aph(3′)-IIa/nptII and aph(3′)-IIIa/nptIII – frequent marker genes in plant biotechnology conferring resistance to certain aminoglycosides – was determined in Austrian soils from 100 maize and potato fields not yet …
Abstract: The 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, usually named 2,4-D is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. Acute toxicity of 2,4-D herbicide was investigated through its effects on guppies (Poecilia vivipara Bloch et Schneider 1801). Fish were exposed to the herbicide at concentrations of 10, 20 and 40µl per liter of water for 24 …
