[pronut-hiv] GM and pregnancy

["George M. Carter" <fiar@verizon.net>]

Interesting article.
George M. Carter

  GM: New study shows unborn babies could be harmed
Mortality rate for new-born rats six times higher when mother was fed on a diet of modified soya
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
The Independent
Published: 08 January 2006

Women who eat GM foods while pregnant risk endangering their unborn 
babies, startling new research suggests.

The study - carried out by a leading scientist at the Russian Academy of 
Sciences - found that more than half of the offspring of rats fed on 
modified soya died in the first three weeks of life, six times as many as 
those born to mothers with normal diets. Six times as many were also 
severely underweight.

The research - which is being prepared for publication - is just one of a 
clutch of recent studies that are reviving fears that GM food damages 
human health. Italian research has found that modified soya affected the 
liver and pancreas of mice. Australia had to abandon a decade-long attempt 
to develop modified peas when an official study found they caused lung damage.

And last May this newspaper revealed a secret report by the biotech giant 
Monsanto, which showed that rats fed a diet rich in GM corn had smaller 
kidneys and higher blood cell counts, suggesting possible damage to their 
immune systems, than those that ate a similar conventional one.

The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation held a workshop on 
the safety of genetically modified foods at its Rome headquarters late 
last year. The workshop was addressed by scientists whose research had 
raised concerns about health dangers. But the World Trade Organisation is 
expected next month to support a bid by the Bush administration to force 
European countries to accept GM foods.

The Russian research threatens to have an explosive effect on already 
hostile public opinion. Carried out by Dr Irina Ermakova at the Institute 
of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of 
Sciences, it is believed to be the first to look at the effects of GM food 
on the unborn.

The scientist added flour from a GM soya bean - produced by Monsanto to be 
resistant to its pesticide, Roundup - to the food of female rats, starting 
two weeks before they conceived, continuing through pregnancy, birth and 
nursing. Others were given non-GM soyaand a third group was given no soya 
at all.

She found that 36 per cent of the young of the rats fed the modified soya 
were severely underweight, compared to 6 per cent of the offspring of the 
other groups. More alarmingly, a staggering 55.6 per cent of those born to 
mothers on the GM diet perished within three weeks of birth, compared to 9 
per cent of the offspring of those fed normal soya, and 6.8 per cent of 
the young of those given no soya at all.

"The morphology and biochemical structures of rats are very similar to 
those of humans, and this makes the results very disturbing" said Dr 
Ermakova. "They point to a risk for mothers and their babies."

Environmentalists say that - while the results are preliminary - they are 
potentially so serious that they must be followed up. The American Academy 
of Environmental Medicine has asked the US National Institute of Health to 
sponsor an immediate, independent follow-up.

The Monsanto soya is widely eaten by Americans. There is little of it, or 
any GM crop, in British foods though it is imported to feed animals farmed 
for meat.

Tony Coombes, director of corporate affairs for Monsanto UK, said: "The 
overwhelming weight of evidence from published, peer-reviewed, 
independently conducted scientific studies demonstrates that Roundup Ready 
soy can be safely consumed by rats, as well as all other animal species 
studied."

What the experiment found

Russian scientists added flour made from a GM soya to the diet of female 
rats two weeks before mating them, and continued feeding it to them during 
pregnancy, birth and nursing. Others were give non-GM soya or none at all. 
Six times as many of the offspring of those fed the modified soya were 
severely underweight compared to those born to the rats given normal 
diets. Within three weeks, 55.6 per cent of the young of the mothers given 
the modified soya died, against 9 per cent of the offspring of those fed 
the conventional soya.

Women who eat GM foods while pregnant risk endangering their unborn 
babies, startling new research suggests.