Can DNA from genetically modified plants be transferred to humans? Despite a lot of propaganda from the companies pushing GM crops (like Monsanto, Syngenta and others) that claim this isn’t possible, there is a lot of evidence proving that
DNA from transgenic plants (plants that have “foreign” genes transferred into them) can indeed be transferred to humans. The link below (followed by an excerpt) to an article noting
a study showing that DNA has been transferred into “gut” bacteria of humans and that it actually incorporates the foreign DNA into the bacteria and the foreign DNA stays there (the DNA is not digested and destroyed as has previously been claimed (and still is being claimed) by proponents of GM foods). The article also notes that the UK’s regulatory agency involved basically ignored and downplayed this information and approved the use of the GM food in question despite the knowledge that DNA was being transferred. Here is the link:
GMO: technical information The fact that the transgene was detected after the population was amplified “indicates that that the DNA was stably maintained in the bacteria [over generations] and thus had integrated” into the bacterial DNA (as opposed to being present simply because the bacteria has eaten the GM material, as suggested some).
Here is another link noting that transgenic DNA is not reliably broken down by saliva and that the bacteria in the mouth can become contaminated with these transgenic bits of DNA including antibiotic resistance markers from the GM plants:
World Scientist Statement Update 1.9.99
Here is an excerpt:
Our comment: Transgenic DNA from food is unlikely to be completely broken down in the mouth, and may transform bacteria normally present in the mouth. One main danger is the uptake of transgenic DNA containing antibiotic resistance marker genes by the bacteria, but other genes and novel constructs involving viral promoters/enhancers may also be hazardous.
As noted in my original post, agrobacterium is a naturally occurring bacteria in soil (and elsewhere) that has properties which enable it to transfer genetic material into plants targeted for genetic modification.
Research work done at State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook found that all Morgellons patients tested had agrobacterium in their skin samples while the control group (people without Morgellons) did not have agrobacterium present in skin samples. A recent article quoted Dr Vitaly Citovsky of SUNY who performed these tests as saying that it is “sheer lunacy” to believe that the agrobacterium could have possibly come from GM foods. There is much evidence available to contradict Dr. Citovsky’s opinion.
The article from the next link is reporting a potential link between Morgellons and GM foods and it notes that the “prescribed” methods for killing agrobacterium with antibiotics in GM plants after the genetic modifications have occurred are not reliable.
Not only did the 3 recommended antibiotics fail to reliably kill the agrobacterium at prescribed dosages, but the study found that very few scientists actually verify that the agrobacterium is killed. Here is the link followed by a brief excerpt:
Agrobacterium and Morgellons Disease, A GM Connection? However, if all the bacteria were not eliminated, then “release of these plants may also result in release of the Agrobacterium [with the foreign genes]”, which will serve as a vehicle for further gene escape, at least to other Agrobacterium strains naturally present in the soil.
Although various antibiotics have been used to eliminate Agrobacterium following transformation, the researchers stated that “very few authors actually test to ensure that the antibiotics succeed.”
The difficulty is compounded because the bacterium can remain latent within the plant tissue. So putting transgenic plant material into culture medium without antibiotics and finding no Agrobacterium is no guarantee that the transgenic plant is free of the bacterium, as was often assumed.
In their study, they investigated the ability of antibiotics to eliminate Agrobacterium tumefaciens after transformation in three model systems: Brassica (mustard), Solanum (potato), and Rubus (raspberry). The antibiotics carbenicillin, cefataxime and ticaracillin were used respectively to eliminate the bacterium at four times the minimum bactericidal concentration, as recommended. They found that none of the antibiotic succeeded in eliminating Agrobacterium.
The contamination levels increased from 12 to 16 weeks to such an extent that transgenic Solanum cultures senesced and died. Contamination in shoot material decreased over 16 to 24 weeks possibly because only the apical node was used in further culture, but even that did not eliminate Agrobacterium from all the samples; 24 percent remained contaminated at 24 weeks.
Based on this information, even when antibiotics are used properly (as Dr. Citovsky apparently assumes is the case in all occurrences of plants being genetically modified with this method) the truth is that the agrobacterium is not reliably killed and that the scientists often don’t bother to verify that it actually is. There are also documented cases where there apparently is NO intention of killing agrobacterium in these plants and the intent is to use the agrobacterium to genetically modify pollen grains so they will spread to other plants and modify their genetic structures as well. Here is a link to an article that notes that orchids were “treated” with agrobacterium and that the pollen grains of the plant were used to allow them to cross pollinate with other orchids so that the agrobacterium (infected with a foreign gene) would transfer to the other orchids. Thus, it appears that
in some cases, agrobacterium is intentionally left in plants and allowed to transfer the foreign genetic material to other plants. http://www.tari.gov.tw/GMO/book-2/P1...5%8A%A9-ok.pdf Considering that there really is no control over this technology and that it is happening all over the world with no controls of any kind and little knowledge or concern of potential consequences, it is very logical and quite appropriate to assume that agrobacterium can and has been transferred to humans from GM plants and foods. Based on the link above, it seems obvious that not all “scientists” performing these genetic experiments follow “prescribed” procedures for preventing agrobacterium from remaining in GM plants (and since the procedures themselves aren’t reliable as noted above, this could still occur even if all scientists and laboratories followed the procedures).
I personally can’t see how it wouldn’t be possible and based on the information available, it is actually very probable (if not a certainty) that humans have been infected with agrobacterium from GM foods.
Aside from agrobacterium,
nanotechnology is now also being used to transfer genetic material between plants and even plants and animals, so agrobacterium is not the only way for foreign genetic material to be transferred from plants to humans. Based on all this information, it seems like a near certainty to me that other plants, animals and humans are being infected with foreign DNA from GM foods on a fairly constant basis regardless of what the propaganda of the companies pushing this technology (and corrupt regulatory bodies) tell us. Simply put, there is no real way that it isn’t happening if you consider all the research that verifies that it is happening.
One strain of EXPERIMENTAL GM rice infected the entire world rice supply only a couple of years ago – the genetic modifications spread through the air (by pollen it is assumed) and 2 unapproved genetic modifications infected the world supply.
The response by the FDA was to retroactively approve these 2 genetic modifications, NOT because they were safe, but because they had already infected the world supply of rice and there was no way to “un-ring the bell” (another example of how out of control this entire process is at every level). Here is a link to a greenpeace site that documents unintended contamination of natural crops by GM crops:
GM Contamination Register