The Science of GMOs, Part II

After writing Genetically Modified Us, I thought I was done. ... Then suddenly a link appeared, arising out of the Dr. Mercola's web-site world, illustrating another compelling story of GMOs. In,“Growing Doubt: A Scientist's Experience With GMOs”, Dr. Jonathan Latham, a scientist with a master's degree in crop and a PhD in plant virology began to unravel some horrible truths behind GMOs. The Momsey listened. She had no choice! (Lucy, my editor, would expect it. This 24-year-old, petite human dynamo is demanding; her standards, high. Why me?)

Dr. Latham is a scientist married to a scientist. Imagine the dinner time conversation there! He founded the Bioscience Resource Project, to “provide the highest quality scientific information and analysis to enable a healthy food system and a healthy world.” He is also its editor. His story begins. Dr. Latham talks about the implications of GMOs on human health, in the real world, where we all live. GMOs were an idea, created in the intellectual, artificial world of the laboratory where it all began. He is raising the alarm on GMOs, those things born of ambition. As his professional life unfolded, Dr. Latham began to see the diabolical implications arising out of the 'Let's see what happens if we do this to this species and then add traits of species A to species B in the laboratory.” He became “concerned about the potential implications the commercialization of genetically engineered plants might engender.” He began to see the no-holds barred scenario in the laboratory and to challenge the status-quo. Some plant 'traits' were being transplanted into other species that would never ever occur naturally, in Mother Nature's world. Genetic engineering was here to stay, regardless, making it possible for new food kingdoms to be created - in the lab - now, and travelling to a human body 'near you'. GMO experimentation was creating a potential Pandora's box. In the real world of Mother Nature, certain things could never happen. ... But in the world of GMOs, however, anything could and did!

Dr. Latham worried about these 'agricultural ideas' having a major impact on human health, if implemented, without thought. He is a scientist, a man of science. He would know. Dr. Latham reasoned that no serious person would engage these ideas in the so-called 'real world'. But the doctor was wrong, as it turned out. A Pandora's box had been unleashed into the environment and human health. The “regulatory system was intellectually bankrupt and also corrupt”, he wrote. ... Oh My. Where was this going, I wondered? It was too scary to ponder. Dr. Latham left his job in the United States, knowing that his findings would be dismissed there, as many scientific conclusions are. There is no money to be made in Mother Nature and the truth. He then moved to England.

In 2006, Dr. Latham and his wife Dr. Wilson published a scientific paper outlining the consequences of putting DNA of one plant into the genome of another. The data was slowly becoming clear and on point. Genetic engineering was an imprecise science and “making a mess of plant genomes.” Oh My. “The process caused unexpected gene mutations, movement and activation of transposons and DNA damage.” Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, of the Institute for Science in Society, another scientist sounding the alarm on GMOs, warned that “genetic modification can probably never be safe.” and “to take responsible action to ban all environmental releases of GMOs now.” Genetic modification is imprecise, artificial and dangerously simplistic, an 'illusion', Dr. Ho added, while crossbreeding or hybrids are precise, natural processes conducted in real time within the natural world in which we live.

Humans are made of DNA. Were we now becoming mutated targets from the food we are eating? Oh, My! Where do we go now to eat healthy food? Is Mars or Pluto open for the business of breakfast, lunch, and dinner? The mess being created to 'improve' the food supply was becoming difficult to study and 'contain'. 'Pandora' could not leave. The process of these “trans-genetic insertions are so complicated” that it is impossible to figure out what is happening and to know what to do next, the scientists were saying. The foods arising out of these laboratory miscues, found at the market, grocery store and restaurants, were out there for the unsuspecting public to eat and enjoy. A quagmire was developing. And it's here!

Are we now paying for the privilege of our demise? (Is Momsey's sarcasm showing?) To add to the confusion, there are things called viral trans-genes being inserted into the plant genome giving rise to unforeseen consequences called hazardous proteins in an attempt to make the plant resistant to viruses. But these new 'implanted' genes, these hazardous fabricated proteins, are posing extremely high risks to human health since the plant organisms are now more susceptible to the viruses they were originally meant to resist. Oh, My. (We are what we eat.) ... Dr. Latham knew this could happen. He is virologist and his concerns were mounting. ... This experimental tinkering of trans-genes was now moving into the realm of science fiction. (Proteins are the building blocks of all living things) Now what?... Has a global GMO monster been unleashed that will now run amok in our food supply, endangering human and animal health, forever? Are we now poised to become the latest endangered species statistic? ... Sign Rachel's and Gwyneth's petitions. Sign them all! ...

Our gut microbiome, our intestines, our human DNA, it would seem to me, are now up for sale and going cheap. And we wonder why human health is under attack, surprisingly and so relentlessly. ... If 70% of processed foods contain GMOs, as Dr. Ho has vigorously maintained, then it is obvious to the Momsey we need to start eating organic apples, oranges, grapefruits, celery, carrots, onions and garlic, in our meals, with our meals and in-between them. But then are these vital foods accessible, available and affordable for all? When was the last time a salad was the main event?

I need a respite from the storm. Where are my precious Mr. Wiggles and his sister, my animal children? I need to talk, hug and lavish them both with attention. Only then will I be able to relax, sit down and eat something for breakfast without wondering how much of my DNA has been lost to GMOs. Am I malingering? Hopefully, it's not 70%.

Coming soon:
The Canadian bakery that did!
GMO, Roundup and the Bees
Mitochondria and Health!