(Information courtesy of Safe Food)
The Soil: In 1994, a GE bacterium developed to aid inthe production of ethanol, produced residues that rendered the land infertile. new crops planted on this soil grew three inches tall and fell over dead.
The Food Chain: In 1996, scientists discovered that ladybugs that had eaten the aphids that had eaten GE potatoes, died.
The Immune System: In 1998, research by Dr. Arpad Pusztai uncovered the potential for genetically altered DNA to weaken the immune system and stunt the growth of baby rats.
Monarch Butterflies: In May 1999, researchers at Cornell University discovered that Monarch butterflies died unexpectedly from eating milkweed plants that had been dusted with the pollen of GE bt corn.
Pregnant Mice: 1998 study showed that DNA from the food fed to pregnant mice ended up in their intestinal lining, white blood cells, brain cells and their fetuses. This suggests that the GE-DNA in the food we eat can end up in our own cells.
Honeybees: In May 2000, a leading European zoologist found that genes from GE canola jumped the species barrier and were picked up by the bacteria in the digestive tracts of bees. This indicates that antibiotic-resistance genes in GE foods can cause the backteria in our own intestines to mutate into superbugs that cannot bea killed by antibiotics.
Superviruses: Viral promoters are invasive agents used by genetic engineers to trick a cell into accepting and integrating an alien gene into the cell’s own DNA. Some scientists predict that releasing viral promoters into the gene pool could lead to the creation of superviruses and novel infectious diseases for organisms at every level of life – from bacteria to humans.