How Genetically Modified Foods Could Affect Our Health in Unexpected Ways
Ari LeVaux, Alternet, 11 January 2012
Yet another reason to test GMOs for safety.
Chinese researchers have found small pieces of rice ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the blood and organs of humans who eat rice. The Nanjing University-based team showed that this genetic material will bind to receptors in human liver cells and influence the uptake of cholesterol from the blood.
The type of RNA in question is called microRNA (abbreviated to miRNA) due to its small size. MiRNAs have been studied extensively since their discovery ten years ago, and have been implicated as players in several human diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. They usually function by turning down or shutting down certain genes. The Chinese research provides the first in vivo example of ingested plant miRNA surviving digestion and influencing human cell function in this way.
Should the research survive scientific scrutiny - a serious hurdle - it could prove a game changer in many fields.
Voor een andere mogelijk gevaar, het optreden van een ziekmakende schimmel in genetisch gemanipuleerde gewassen die worden geteelt met gebruikmaking van het bestrijdingsmiddel Roundup Ready van Monsanto:
Monsanto's Roundup Ready Crops Contain Organism Causing Animal Miscarriages, Scientist Says
Door Joanna Zelman, The Huffington Post, 23 februari 2011
Frankrijk verbiedt genetisch gemanipuleerde maïs
Trouw, 16 maart 2012
How Monsanto Is Sabotaging Efforts to Label Genetically Modified Food
Door Charlotte Silver, Inter Press Service / Alternet, 26 juni 2012
Lobbyists from the biotech industry are ardently opposing GMO labeling.
En zie m'n blognotitie:
Genetische manipulatie leidt tot superonkruid
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