A study in France has shown that genetically modified corn that has been sprayed with a herbicide to kill weeds will cause tumors and organ damage, causing the rats in the study to die early. However, some researchers are criticizing the study, saying that the methodology is wrong, and that the study is misleading. Unfortunately, because companies often employ scientists to offer differing opinions when something is shown to be dangerous or deadly, it is impossible to know the dissenting scientist's motivations.
This was a two year study published on September 19th. The rodents were fed corn that was sprayed with Roundup, one of the top brands of weed killer, or were given water with the same levels of the herbicide that is often found in tap water in the United States.
The USDA Economic Research Service says that as much as 96% of corn grown in the country had some sort of genetic modification, varying by state. It is a sad state of crop resources. For hundreds of thousands of years, humans lived on all natural food, but because farmers want increased profit, they choose instead to grow genetically modified corn and other types of crops.
The results from the study showed that female rats were up to three times more likely to die from being fed the herbicide than the two control groups, and around half the males died earlier than the control groups. Affected rats developed huge tumors and had major kidney and liver damage. It isn't known if the ingredients in Roundup are the same ingredients as what is in other weed killers.
Photo by Akeg on Flickr.com
Gabriel Legend covers a wide range of breaking news for Gather. He writes fiction as well, with his first novel coming out in 2013. You can follow on Twitter at @GabrielLegend1 or contact him directly here.
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