Reprinted with permission from the May 2001 issue of Alive: Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition

Biotech News, by Richard Wolfson, Ph.D.

Aventis Lawsuits Mounting

Aventis, the manufacturer of StarLink corn, is being slapped with a series of class-action lawsuits by farmers across the USA. Farmers are seeking compensation for financial damage from cross pollination and commingling of the unapproved corn with regular varieties. StarLink, which was approved for animal use only, found its way into the human food supply. Food industry consultants say that StarLink will cost the food industry billions of dollars and has thrown the future of genetically modified foods into doubt.

Nematodes Infest Biotech Cotton

Research recently published in the Journal of Cotton Science shows that biotech cotton is more susceptible to the root-knot nematode, a widespread and serious insect pest of cotton. In the past, cotton was bred to be resistant to the pest. However, biotech varieties show increased infestation and nematode damage. This finding highlights the potential for weakened traits in genetic varieties due to the unpredictable side-effects of genetic manipulation.

Cotton Quality Declining

US textile manufacturers have linked decline in cotton quality over the past years with the widespread use of genetically modified cotton farms. The reduction in cotton quality occurred exactly in step with the increased use of genetically engineered cotton.

Brazil leader in "Natural" Corn

International buyers are flocking to buy non-genetically engineered corn from Brazil, the leading supplier of GE-free corn. Spain recently purchased 150,000 tonnes.

Superweeds Spreading

Genetically modified "super-weeds" have invaded Canadian farms. Herbicide resistant biotech canola plants have escaped and cross-bred with each other to form plants stronger than their parents. These plants, which can't be killed by most pesticides, are sprouting up in wheat fields and other areas where farmers don't want them. The super-weed canola is especially bad in the Prairies. Farmers are having to resort to more powerful pesticides - the very chemicals the engineered plants were designed to render obsolete.

Biotech Rice Fraud

Genetically engineered "golden rice" that produced vitamin A was promoted by the biotech industry as a solution to blindness in the third world. However, it has now been shown that the rice could only generate a small fraction of the vitamin A initially promised, making the initial claims and benefits unrealizable.

Brazilian Farmers Storm Monsanto

More than a thousand poor Brazilian farmers stormed a biotech plant in Brazil owned by U.S. life sciences giant Monsanto, threatening to camp out indefinitely to protest genetically modified (GM) food. A spokesman for the farmers stated "These [biotech] seeds trick farmers and create dependency on seeds produced by a big multinational."

United Nations Recommends Cautions

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has expressed concern over genetically modified food. FAO is warning scientists of their "moral responsibility" to supply objective, peer-reviewed data and not to rush products to market on the basis of "insufficiently tested results."

Top Research Centre Admits GM Failure

Scientists in UK's top biotech crop research institute, the John Innes Centre, have admitted fundamental problems with GE crops. The latest report of the institute warns that biotech crops can become unstable after they reproduce, resulting in weakened crop varieties. The scientists were also worried that the CaMV gene, which is derived from the cauliflower mosaic virus and is inserted into many GE crops, could interfere with the functioning of the plants.

...............

Reprinted with permission from the June 2001 issue of Alive, Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition

[received in an email. Scary, huh?]

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

Answers

As I read thios, I just kept sayinf Scar, huh, Scary Huh! and then readyour comments...SCARY!!!! huh!

heard on the am news, there was corn this year (I think in England or Canada) but it is to be used as methelane gas. I have LONG wonder why we can't burn manure, weeds, anything that we need to eliminate as garbage, or land fills, With everything else we are capable or doing in this day and age, seems we could utilize waste products, both human, and animal, as other things that only "soil" our beautiful planet!

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

If I remember correctly, we have a power plant in Broward county that generates power from trash. I forget what type of trash they burn there, tho.

Just shows that it can be done. I don't know what the ratio of trash to power is.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

GM Canola Out Of Control Now...And GM Wheat Becoming 'A Weed'

CBC News © 2001 CBC All Rights Reserved

CBC News 6-22-1

WINNIPEG - Western farmers are struggling with a new pest in their fields - a crop that was supposed to make their lives easier.

Genetically modified (GM) canola is appearing in farmers' fields where it wasn't planted, and because the wheat has been engineered to resist conventional herbicides, it's tough to kill.

Agricultural scientists suspect that the plants spread through cattle manure. The seeds travel through an animal's digestive tract and are deposited on the soil, where they germinate.

"The GM canola has, in fact, spread much more rapidly than we thought it would," said Martin Entz, a plant scientist at the University of Manitoba. "It's absolutely impossible to control."

Ottawa approved GM canola in 1996, and at the time it did consider the possibility that it could become a weed. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency describes the current problem as "a nuisance" and has advised farmers to "use another chemical."

But the alternative chemicals can kill farmers' intended crops, and in some cases, the GM canola appears to be resistant to the other chemicals.

Monsanto, which created on of the GM canola strains, says that if farmers' call the company, they'll send out team to manually pull up the weeds. But Martin Phillipson, a University of Saskatchewan law professor, said that Monsanto may be liable for damages if their GM canola continues to spread.

Written by CBC News Online staff

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

6/20/01

link

The Food You Eat Controls Potency of Viral Infections

Poor nutrition leads to mutations that create more dangerous forms of the influenza virus and may contribute to newly virulent outbreaks of viral epidemics ranging from the common cold to AIDS and Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

Deficiencies of selenium allowed the human influenza virus to mutate into more virulent forms in mice, and a similar mutation is likely to occur in people.

Once the mutations have occurred, even mice with normal nutrition are more susceptible to the newly virulent strain. Poor nutritional status may contribute to the emergence of new viral strains and might promote epidemics.

In the study, groups of mice with normal and selenium-deficient diets were exposed to Influenza A Bangkok, a mild strain of human influenza virus. Although investigators had expected the malnourished mice to be sicker than the well-fed ones, they confirmed that the virus also mutated to a greater degree in these mice.

Selenium, which is found in meat, is a component of an antioxidant enzyme that helps the body fight off infections. Most people in developed countries would not need to supplement their diet to maintain adequate levels of the mineral.

The study focused on the flu virus, which hospitalizes more than 100,000 people each year in the United States alone. The research also confirmed earlier studies into the causes of mutations of a virus, Coxsackie B3, linked to a heart disease known as Keshan disease.

The disease, once found in China among children and women of childbearing age with diets low in selenium, was largely eradicated by dietary supplements.

FASEB Journal June 2001

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

Most people are stuck in a belief system that puts most of the responsibility for illness on these big bad infectious bacteria and viruses.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Even Louis Pasteur, on his deathbed, realized that it was not the infectious agents, but the terrain in which they worked, which was responsible for their ability to produce illness.

The most significant contribution to one's biological terrain would be the foods that you eat. This is one of the reasons why one should seriously consider implementing the optimal health food choice program. The program eliminates sugars and most grains that break down to sugar. It is these sugars that serve as fuel for the growth of pathogens that will cause illness.

As the above study suggests, other factors are involved. Selenium is a major player for viral infections. As the first link below shows, selenium is a potent inhibitor of viral replication and is an important part of effective natural regimens for control of hepatitis C infections.

However, one must be aware that medical science is at a very rudimentary stage of its understanding of nutrition and it interaction with human physiology. There are likely dozens, if not hundreds, of other micronutrients and factors that are responsible for decreasing the risk of infection when one eats natural unprocessed whole foods.

And if you think a flu shot is a good option for preventing the flu, you have not read Chet Day's excellent summary on that issue below.

©Copyright 1997-2001 by Joseph M. Mercola, DO. All Rights Reserved. This content may be copied in full, with copyright; contact; creation; and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required.

Disclaimer - Newsletters are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola. They are not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and they are not intended as medical advice. They are intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

[from an email I received]

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

It had not occurred to me until now that I have had little or no viral illness since I had to remove sugar from my diet two years ago. Yes, I do eat some things that have sugar in them, but in minute amounts compared to my former intake. (For instance, I love those English wholemeal cookies, I think two have 7 grams of sugar.) I do try, though, to stick with those foods containing fructose--and, again, minuscule amounts there too, except for reversing a hypoglycemia attack. Right now, I'm not eating ANYTHING with sugar in it, period. And I've cut down drastically on the carbs. Until things stabilize, I'll have to live this way--ugh! Can't wait for a low-blood sugar episode so I can pop a choc!

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001

After hearing about where chocolate comes from, I don't know if I wanna eat anymore. [course I will, who can resist chocolate?]

Seems the majority of chocolate is harvested in Africa by slaves, children tricked into going to earn money for their families back home. Little do they know that they have been sold for as little as 25 dollars.

this was on the news last night.

Isn't that awful?

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2001