GM crops, organophosphates and Morgellons: is there a connection?

[Jo]

Hi Hilly,

Any chance I can add a bit about GM and a possible link with Bees dying? I've got article reports from Netherlands, Canada, New Mexico and Germany...and maybe could say about the 'coincidence' that UK started GM in 2000 and the new Government report on the bees states that they started declining in 2001.....

cheers

Jo xxx

[hilly]

Great Jo, pm it to me and I'll add it... I had thought about bees myself.. He keeps bees himself and I'm sure is very worried. I'm happy to send a large file ! H x

[2manyfibers]

Hey Hilly (and everyone else) – thanks for posting that article. It’s encouraging to see that Prince Charles is using his position to fight against GMOs over there – hopefully it will eventually have some impact here in the states as well as in the UK. Maybe he can help expose and publicize some of the obvious problems and dangers of these monstrosities and also expose the FACT that pure greed is the actual factor driving the spread of these mutant creations being masqueraded as “biotechnology”. I’ve been continuing research on this subject and have a bit more information to present on this thread that I think illustrates the lies the public is being told by our own governments and the companies producing these GMOs in order to line their own pockets with money at the expense of public health. According to the companies producing this garbage, GM crops were supposed to increase yields and result in less pesticide and herbicide applications. However, this is not the reality of GM crops as noted in much research.

The article in the link below notes that GM crop yields are significantly lower than traditional crop yields and also notes that GM crops increasingly require much higher applications of different pesticides because “secondary” plant predators have become a much more widespread problem (the Bt cotton and other crops can kill some of the primary insects, but this has only opened the way for other insects to feed on these crops, so other insecticides have to be used in an attempt to kill of these secondary predators).

GM yields not improved
New Soil Association report shows GM crops do not yield more - sometimes less « Food Democracy

Another problem that is being created by Roundup Ready (RR) crops is that the genetically modified crops have apparently pollinated with several varieties of weeds and transferred the genetic modifications that make them resistant to glyphosate (roundup). Many of these weeds have historically been a problem for these crops and now are becoming a bigger problem because they are more difficult than ever to kill (and they were already notoriously difficult to kill to begin with). Thus, farmers are now faced with weeds that roundup won’t readily kill and they either have to greatly increase the application of roundup or use other methods including different herbicides or plowing the weeds under. All of these methods greatly increase expense to the farmers, and plowing the weeds under is practically impossible once the cotton starts to increase in height (and the extra tilling of the soil can lead to increased soil erosion). Here’s an article that discusses this in detail:

Glyphosate-resistant weeds burden growers’ pocketbooks

The following information specifically points to more potential connections between Morgellons and GMOs in my opinion. One of the other things I’ve been wondering about lately is the introduction of animal proteins like keratin into genetically modified cotton. Some strains of cotton have been genetically modified with rabbit DNA to produce keratin fibers as part of the cotton (like the fur of rabbits, which is supposed to make the cotton softer and also add properties like wrinkle resistance). The next link notes that China started a large program to grow this genetically modified cotton in 1999, so there is likely a lot of this cotton in the clothes we wear today (and there apparently is no viable way for consumers to tell what products do or don’t contain this GM cotton).

Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China

It seems quite logical to me that having rabbit keratin in GM cotton could readily attract rabbit mites to infest the cotton as well as any products made from this GM cotton. Thus, it seems like a very reasonable possibility that the cotton clothes we wear could be attracting parasites to our bodies that normal cotton wouldn’t attract (and these mites could just make themselves at home feeding on human keratins, some of which are similar to rabbit keratins – the human body has at least 26 known types of keratins). Rabbit mites feed on the fur of rabbits which is made of keratin and the same keratins that rabbit fur is made of is now part of this genetically modified cotton.

Many mites of all types feed on keratin (bird mites feed on feathers which are keratin – and human hair and the surface of human skin are made of keratin as well). I think it is quite conceivable that the keratin in this GM cotton could be a vehicle for mites to transfer to humans more readily – they may be attracted to the rabbit “fur-like” keratin in the cotton and because the cotton is worn next to our skin, the mites may see our skin as a natural extension (like the skin of rabbits they would normally infest). The next link discusses rabbit mites and notes that some of these mites can infest humans as well (and there are numerous sites discussing how rabbit mites and other mites feed on keratin).

Fur Mites in Rabbits

The next link is to a book that discusses human parasites and this link specifically notes that many human parasites feed on keratin in the human body.

The Parasites of Homo Sapiens: An ... - Google Book Search

Aside from the problems mites themselves can create for humans, it is also well established that mites often carry fungal spores and bacteria as well. Here are a couple of links documenting that mites can transfer these pathogens to humans and animals. The first link is to an abstract that notes that mites carry all kinds of bacteria, fungi, etc. that could potentially effect human hosts.

PARASITES AND PATHOGENS OF MITES - Annual Review of Entomology, 43(1):449 - Abstract

The next link discusses tularemia (rabbit fever) and notes that it can be spread by mites, ticks etc. Tularemia is caused by a bacterium that can be carried by mites (obviously there are all kinds of bacteria and other pathogens that can be carried by mites). Apparently medical science has not spent a lot of effort researching how many different types of bacteria / fungi / viruses can be carried by mites based on the little information that seems to be available, but I would think mites could logically be a source for Lyme spirochetes or similar types of bacteria and blood borne parasites as well.

DNR - Tularemia

I haven’t been able to locate any specific information that rabbit mites are actually attracted to cotton that has been genetically modified with the genes to produce rabbit keratin, but it seems quite logical to me that this could occur (I’m also guessing that scientists never considered this possibility (or even wanted to consider it) before putting these products on the market either). And science still doesn’t have much of an understanding of bacterial / viral / fungal infections and how insects and other parasites including mites can be the vectors for human infection with many of these pathogens. Much less does science have any understanding of the actual impacts of these GMOs on normal insects and parasites, and how these things can ultimately effect humans.

My guess is that this is yet another case where “scientists” failed to consider the potential problems that could result from these careless genetic manipulations. That’s the real problem I see with so much of the GMOs – the people doing these modifications truly have no idea of and very little concern for any of the potential impacts these mutant organisms could have on humans and the overall balance of nature. And the government agencies that are charged with regulating this type of thing to protect the public have literally sold out the public they are supposed to be protecting.

[niecy]

2manyfibers,

I found this article today and decided to see if it had been posted here. I searched to the best of my ability which ain't that great, but I couldn't find it. The author of this article believes that GMO is involved with Morgellons.

Niecy

GMO and Morgellons Disease
GMO and Morgellons Disease

by Barbara H. Peterson

Global Research, March 27, 2008
Since the Clinton administration made biotechnology “a strategic priority for U.S. government backing”(1), giant transnational agri-business concerns have aggressively taken over the global food chain by flooding it with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) without regard for the consequences to the earth or its inhabitants. This takeover not only has the potential for global economic devastation, but threatens the earth’s population with far-reaching health concerns as well. One health concern that seems to coincide with the GMO revolution is Morgellons disease. What if the advent of Morgellons disease has something to do with the ingestion of GMO foods?

Morgellons Disease – What is it?


Very little can be found regarding this disease. Originally, sufferers were told that their problem was imaginary. This was of little comfort to the people who were suffering.

Morgellons Disease sufferers report strange, fiber-like material sticking out of sores or wounds that erupt on the skin. This is accompanied by painful, intense itching, that has been described as “an ever present sensation as if something is crawling under the skin.”(2)

On May 18, 2006, KGW, a local news channel reporting out of the Oregon area published this story:

Strange sickness: Mystery disease horror story (excerpt)

[Dr. Drottar] The disabled family practice doctor felt like bugs were crawling under her skin.

"If I fully tell people what has gone on with me medically, they think they’re in the twilight zone,” said Drottar.

She woke up with the feeling that fluid was flowing just below her skin. Often black or blue hair like fibers protruded from her skin, she said.

“I thought I had been exposed to asbestos. I thought I was having asbestos fibers come out of my skin. I was pulling long, thin, small hair-like fibers that were extremely sharp that could literally pierce through my finger nails,” Drottar said.

In addition to the feeling of bugs and the fibers, Drottar also suffered from severe depression, chronic fatigue and a weakened immune system. As a result, she had to give up her family practice, Drottar said. (3)

Morgellons and GMO – the Link


Little information has been revealed concerning the long-term health effects of GMO crops on humans or animals, and even less information can be had regarding research correlating Morgellons with GMO foods. This is suspicious right off the bat, because it would seem that there would be a natural curiosity regarding a link between Genetically Modified Organisms that people ingest regularly and inorganic fibers that protrude from a person’s skin. This would be right up a geneticist’s alley, and quite worthy of intensive research. So, why aren’t there a ton of published studies? Why is it so difficult finding anything related to this? Could it be that companies such as Monsanto have enough clout to effectively squash these stories? If they have enough clout to ruin countries by deceiving impoverished farmers into purchasing patented GMO seeds, and then take it a step further and force these poor people to purchase seeds year after year instead of harvesting their own, then they have enough clout to ask our more than willing corporate government to manipulate the press...again.

According to Mike Stagman, PhD,

“Genetic Engineering is a nightmare technology that has already caused MANY disease epidemics -- documented but unpublicized.” (4)

Well Monsanto, you let at least one study slip through. With the help of a couple of search engines, the following article by Whitley Strieber published on October 12, 2007, titled “Skin Disease May Be Linked to GM Food” was found, which concludes that the fibers taken from a Morgellons sufferer contain the same substance that is "used commercially to produce genetically-modified plants." Here is the article:

Skin Disease May Be Linked to GM Food
12-Oct-2007

Many people—and most physicians—have written off Morgellons disease as either a hoax or hypochondria. But now there is evidence that this mysterious disease may be REAL and related to GENETICALLY MODIFIED food!
The skin of Morgellons victims oozes mysterious strands that have been identified as cellulose (which cannot be manufactured by the human body), and people have the sensation of things crawling beneath their skin. The first known case of Morgellons occurred in 2001, when Mary Leitao created a web site describing the disease, which had infected her young son. She named it Morgellons after a 17th century medical study in France that described the same symptoms.
In the Sept. 15-21 issue of New Scientist magazine, Daniel Elkan describes a patient he calls "Steve Jackson," who "for years" has "been finding tiny blue, red and black fibers growing in intensely itchy lesions on his skin." He quotes Jackson as saying, "The fibers are like pliable plastic and can be several millimeters long. Under the skin, some are folded in a zigzag pattern. These can be as fine as spider silk, yet strong enough to distend the skin when you pull them, as if you were pulling on a hair."
Doctors say that this type of disease could only be caused by a parasite, but anti-parasitic medications do not help. Psychologists insist that this is a new version of the well-known syndrome known as "delusional parasitosis." While this is a "real" disease, it is not a physically-caused one.
But now there is physical evidence that Morgellons is NOT just psychological. When pharmacologist Randy Wymore offered to study some of these fibers if people sent them to him, he discovered that "fibers from different people looked remarkably similar to each other and yet seem to match no common environmental fibers."
When they took them to a police forensic team, they said they were not from clothing, carpets or bedding. They have no idea what they are.
Researcher Ahmed Kilani says he was able to break down two fiber samples and extract their DNA. He found that they belonged to a fungus.
An even more provocative finding is that biochemist Vitaly Citovsky discovered that the fibers contain a substance called "Agrobacterium," which, according to New Scientist, is "used commercially to produce genetically-modified plants." Could GM plants be "causing a new human disease?" (5)
GMO – Not on My Watch!


The giant transnational corporations behind the GMO revolution are hitting us in our most vulnerable spot – our bellies. Most people have been brought up with an innate trust that what they purchase from the stores is safe to eat. This is no longer true, since most processed foods contain genetically engineered ingredients that can have disastrous effects on both animal and human health. What you purchase from the corner store might just change your DNA and create such frightening symptoms that the general public simply does not believe it. What is worse is that when you go to the doctor to get help, he/she tells you what you are experiencing is all in your head. This is rubbish! It is up to people who care to make the correlations between what we eat and what happens to our bodies. Remember the old saying – “you are what you eat?” Well, this author believes it is true.




© Copyright Barbara H. Peterson, Global Research, 2008

The url address of this article is: GMO and Morgellons Disease

[2manyfibers]

Hey Niecy - thanks for posting that article. It certainly seems to be a pretty good probability that Morgellons could be related to GM crops and foods and more and more articles are making the connection.

Here's an article regarding the die off of honeybees worldwide and according to the article, much of the problem may be due to a pesticide from the German chemical company Bayer. The pesticide is not an organophosphate but was created with the intent of replacing organophosphates with something "safer".

The pesticide noted in the article is nicotine based and I also notice that the crops mentioned in conjunction with its use are corn and rapeseed (rapeseed is used to make canola oil). Both of these crops have been genetically modified with a pretty high (and growing) percentage of these total crops worldwide now being cultivated using GM seed. Additionally, this pesticide is intended to end up throughout the entire tissue of plants cultivated with seed that have been treated with it with the expectation that the neurotoxins contained in the plant tissue will kill insects.

I'm curious to know how much testing was done to see what effects these neurotoxins might have on humans that eat food crops from seed treated with it (by being in all the plant tissue, it is certain that we would be ingesting it from any plants treated with it). It certainly seems logical that this nicotine based pesticide could be having a negative impact human health (if not causing Morgellons, it sure seems a fair possibility that it could cause other illnesses). I also wonder about the impact of mixing this pesticide with foreign proteins already contained in GM foods - is the combination of them more dangerous than either of them by themselves? Somehow I'm betting that there have been no valid studies done to see. Here's the link with a few brief excerpts:

Bayer Pesticide Chemicals Linked to Devastating Collapse of Honeybee Populations

German government researchers have concluded that a bestselling Bayer pesticide is responsible for the recent massive die-off of honeybees across the country's Baden-Württemberg region. In response, the government has banned an entire family of pesticides, fueling accusations that pesticides may be responsible for the current worldwide epidemic of honeybee die-offs.

Researchers found buildup of the pesticide clothianidin in the tissues of 99 percent of dead bees in Baden-Württemberg state. The German Research Center for Cultivated Plants concluded that nearly 97 percent of honeybee deaths had been caused directly by contact with the insecticide.

"It can unequivocally be concluded that a poisoning of the bees is due to the rub-off of the pesticide ingredient clothianidin from corn seeds," said the federal agricultural research agency, the Julius Kuehn Institute.

Clothianidin, marketed in Europe under the brand name Poncho, is a widely used insecticide in the neonicotinoid family. Like all neonicotinoids, it is a systemic pesticide that is applied to the seeds of plants and then spreads itself throughout all plant tissues. Based on nicotine, the neonicotinoids function as neurotoxins that attack the nervous systems of insects such as honeybees.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified clothianidin as "highly toxic" to honeybees. The chemical was approved for U.S. use in 2003 and German use in 2004.

[carla]

http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/varroa.html

[Jo]

Thanks 2Many and Niecy great work.

I'm interested to know what the target pests are that are killed with clothianidin. Ummm species of insect that infest corn seed, corn and canola. Will try and find out.

Jo xxx

[niecy]

Morgellons Disease Link

Morgellons Disease Link

October 14th, 2008 · No Comments

Professor Vitaly Citovsky of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University in New York, discovered that the fibers contained the substance Agrobacterium while studying anonymous samples which were provided to Professor Citovsky by the Morgellons Research Foundation to use in investigating the potential presence of Agrobacterium in biopsies from Morgellons patients. During the research it was found that a genus of gram-negative bacteria capable of genetically transforming not only plants, but also other eukaryotic species, including human cells.
As per the statement issued by Professor Citovsky, this observation does not imply that Agrobacterium causes Morgellons or that Morgellons is indeed an infectious disease. However, it does encourage future studies to determine, statistical significance of data, whether Agrobacterium is not only present extracellularly, but also causes genetic transformation of the infected tissues, and whether infection of laboratory animals with Agrobacterium can recreate symptoms of Morgellons.
Sources:
“ investigation of Morgellons disease in the U.S.” Background information on the involvement of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the, published by the CDC.

[carla]

Europe's secret plan to boost GM crop production - Green Living, Environment - The Independent

[Sadsack]

Niecy -
Do you have links to Citovsky's statements? The most recent things I can find he seems almost angry that people are trying to make a connection between agro/GMO foods and Morgellons...I think he used the word "preposterous".
I was a little upset with him, as further investigation into WHY agro is present in Morgellons victims and not "normal" controls CLEARLY needs further exploration.
We have so few concrete leads to unraveling this mystery that we can't afford to abandon any line of investigation.
I will, however, agree that just jumping from finding agro to claiming it is responsible is overly simplistic and probably wrong. More likely, some other change has occured with our bodies that attracts thing like agro, collembola, etc.
Dr. Staninger's position is that we have been infected by a package of nanoparticles and dna plasmids (virons) from all kinds of things - plants, insects, sea creatures, mycoplasma, fungus, etc that transform us.
This explanation would explain why we attract bugs, bacteria, etc, that normally are not attracted to mammals. Collembola, for example, are attracted to decaying vegetation - so why would they be found on us? To make matters worse, agro then further affects us because of it's ability to laterally transfer it's dna into the "host".
However this unravels, you can bet it is NOT a simple explanation, a single organism. The studies of this have to take all aspects of the manifestation into consideration, always with the question "What is cause and what is effect?" in order to develop a unified explanation.
SS