GMO Safety Questioned

I recently spoke with knowledgeable individuals from Europe, Africa, and Asia about their concerns with genetically modified crops grown in the United States. I explained that GMOs, genetically modified organisms, have been in use for nearly two decades, and we have been assured they are safe. Genetic modification involves inserting genetic material from one species into another to produce new properties. Current GMO technology has two purposes: pesticide production and herbicide resistance.  The first technology, “Bt,” inserts genetic material from Bacillus thuringiensis bacterium into plants to produce bacterial toxins to kill insects. The second technology involves creating “Roundup-Ready” crops resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in the broadleaf week killer Roundup.

An article published in Mother Earth News, “The Threats from Genetically Modified Foods,” http://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-farming/genetically-modified-foods-zm0z12amzmat.aspx, points to possible health risks. Though we have been told by the makers of GMO seed and glyphosate of their safety, the article strongly questions this. It explains that the manufacturers make it nearly impossible for independent scientists to study genetically modified seeds. Researchers point to possible risks to human health with Bt crops causing damage to the small intestines and glyphosate causing malformations in animals. Also, glyphosate causes damage to wetlands through run-off, and causes soil damage. Researchers state that glyphosate “can significantly increase the severity of various plant diseases, impair plant defense to pathogens and disease, and immobilize soil and plant nutrients, rendering them unavailable for plant use.” These researchers also warn that glyphosate “may have dire consequences for agriculture such as rendering soils infertile, crops nonproductive and plants less nutritious.” Glyphosate herbicide can lead to disease and toxins in plants including toxin levels in straw high enough to make cattle and pigs infertile. In another GMO technology, “rBST,” genetically modified cattle growth hormone is injected into dairy cattle to increase milk production, resulting in high levels of a milk protein that increases the risk of breast, colon, and prostate cancer. Surely, GMO crops deserve independent scientific investigation. Photo: GMO Corn.

--Richard

Are GMOs Safe?

The recently reported study of a significant Indiana honey bee kill that was traced to the insecticide clothianidin drew questions about the crops involved. The study followed the flow of a systemic insecticide, coated onto corn seed, from crops and the surrounding soil to the bees and their hives. The study by Krupke et al. is published in the Public Library of Science at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029268. Several readers questioned the safety of the treated crop, genetically modified, or GMO, corn. A large percentage of grain and food crops grown in the United States involve plants known as genetically modified organisms, crops that have been modified to have desirable traits either by altering the plant’s genes or by introducing genetic material from other organisms. Most crop GMOs accomplish two purposes: The first is to provide resistance in the crop plants to herbicides used to control competing weeds and grasses, and the second is to allow the crop plants to control insect pests. Genetically modified crops are tested for safety to beneficial insects, like honey bees, and for livestock and humans that consume the crops. While testing and observation continue, genetically modified crops appear to be safe. GMO grains have a history of safe use over a number of years. Researchers find no connection between GMO crops and honey bee Colony Collapse Disorder.

GMO crops also offer a number of advantages for modern agriculture. Crops resistant to specific herbicides, like glyphosate, can be grown weed-free by spraying the entire field. Weeds are killed, but the crop is not damaged. Glyphosate-resistant crops are often known as “Roundup Ready.” The use of genetically modified crops can reduce the need for mechanical cultivation, saving labor, fuel, and soil moisture by employing no-till practices. Also, GMO crop plantings often reduce the need for insecticides such as clothianidin. In today’s photo greater white-fronted geese, “specklebellies,” wintering in the Arkansas Delta, forage in a harvested soybean field. The Delta is seeing increased numbers of migratory waterfowl.

--Richard

Pesticides Enter Bee Hives

Indiana experienced a massive honey bee die-off during 2010 resulting from poisoning by clothianidin, an insecticide highly toxic to honey bees, which is widely used on corn. Honey bees do not forage corn, a wind-pollinated grass, for nectar. However, they readily fly through corn tassels collecting poisoned pollen on their bodies when the plants have been treated with systemic insecticides. Clothianidin is in a class of insecticides called “neonicotinoids,” nicotine-based neurotoxins that are sprayed on foliage, sprayed on the soil, or coated onto seeds to kill gnawing or chewing insects that eat foliage or other plant parts. Systemic insecticides are carried throughout a plant and poison all plant parts, including nectar and pollen. Purdue University researchers studied the Indiana bee die-off to determine how neonicotinoids are transported from corn fields to honey bees and bee hives. The scientists identified several methods of insecticide contamination of bee hives near neonicotinoid-treated Indiana corn fields. Most corn is planted with seed coated with systemic insecticides. Talc is added to mechanical planters to prevent seeds from clumping. The scientists found clothianidin levels up to 700,000 times the lethal dose for honey bees in talc dust exhausted from planters. Also, significant levels of insecticide were found in the soil of corn fields as well as fields not currently planted in corn. Neonicotinoids are considered persistent; they remain toxic long after use. Outside the corn fields, dandelions, wildflowers attractive to honey bees, were also found to contain clothianidin.

Clothianidin was found in pollen stored in nearby bee hives. An exceptionally toxic effect occurs when honey bees gather clothianidin-contaminated corn pollen from fields treated with common fungicides, a widespread practice in North America. Dead bees found surrounding the hives contained clothianidin, either eaten by the bees or contacted with the bees’ bodies. The researchers caution that “sublethal doses of insecticides can weaken bees and increase susceptibility to key parasites or pathogens.” The study by Krupke et al. may be viewed at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029268. Today’s photo: clothianidin-treated broom corn.

--Richard

Corn Produces Pollen

Honey bees are attracted to the flowering plants, and they collect nectar and pollen from them. The attraction of the bees is part of a mutually beneficial relationship that the flowering plants and the bees share. The bees gain food, and the flowering plants are pollinated, a necessary step in their reproduction. The bees are generally not attracted to the grasses, though. The grasses reproduce by wind pollination and do not need insects to carry the pollen. One grass does attract honey bees at times, and the plant is corn. Honey bees may be seen flying down rows of corn. As the bees fly, their hairy bodies take on an electrostatic charge. Flying among the tassels of corn plants, the pollen jumps onto the hairs of the bees’ bodies. Back at the hive, the corn pollen, along with other pollens, is mixed with honey to make bee bread to be feed to the brood. A diverse diet of pollens makes for good nutrition for the developing bees. Pollen contains protein, vitamins, minerals, and fats, or lipids. While the honey bees bring some corn pollen into the hive, corn produces no nectar; so there is no honey made from corn.

In the photo we can see broom corn being grown as produce at Whitton Farms in the foreground. In the distance, beyond the Peace Bee Farm bee hives that pollinate the Whitton produce and flowers, you can see a large field of corn. This variety of corn seen in the distance is most likely to produce grain to be converted into ethanol for fuel. To see more about the activity at Whitton Farms, visit their web site, http://whittonfarms.com/.
--Richard