Science, safety, and trust: the case of transgenic food

Martinelli, L.; Karbarz, Małgorzata; Siipi, Helena

doi:10.3325/cmj.2013.54.91

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Some authors were employees of Monsanto Company, which owns NK603 GM maize and sells Roundup herbicide [ 4 , 11 ]. Other more recent papers, published by plant biologists and/or affiliates of the industry-funded group ILSI [ 15 , 16 ], repeated the arguments. The author of a separate article criticizing our study expressed concern that our results could damage public opinion about GM crops [ 14 ] - a sentiment that gives precedence to economic interests over public health.…”

Section: Unsubstantiated Allegations Of Fraud or Errorsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Conflicts of interests, confidentiality and censorship in health risk assessment: the example of an herbicide and a GMO

et al. 2014

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We have studied the long-term toxicity of a Roundup-tolerant GM maize (NK603) and a whole Roundup pesticide formulation at environmentally relevant levels from 0.1 ppb. Our study was first published in Food and Chemical Toxicology (FCT) on 19 September, 2012. The first wave of criticisms arrived within a week, mostly from plant biologists without experience in toxicology. We answered all these criticisms. The debate then encompassed scientific arguments and a wave of ad hominem and potentially libellous comments appeared in different journals by authors having serious yet undisclosed conflicts of interests. At the same time, FCT acquired as its new assistant editor for biotechnology a former employee of Monsanto after he sent a letter to FCT to complain about our study. This is in particular why FCT asked for a post-hoc analysis of our raw data. On 19 November, 2013, the editor-in-chief requested the retraction of our study while recognizing that the data were not incorrect and that there was no misconduct and no fraud or intentional misinterpretation in our complete raw data - an unusual or even unprecedented action in scientific publishing. The editor argued that no conclusions could be drawn because we studied 10 rats per group over 2 years, because they were Sprague Dawley rats, and because the data were inconclusive on cancer. Yet this was known at the time of submission of our study. Our study was however never attended to be a carcinogenicity study. We never used the word ‘cancer’ in our paper. The present opinion is a summary of the debate resulting in this retraction, as it is a historic example of conflicts of interest in the scientific assessments of products commercialized worldwide. We also show that the decision to retract cannot be rationalized on any discernible scientific or ethical grounds. Censorship of research into health risks undermines the value and the credibility of science; thus, we republish our paper.

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Section: Unsubstantiated Allegations Of Fraud or Errorsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Conflicts of interests, confidentiality and censorship in health risk assessment: the example of an herbicide and a GMO

et al. 2014

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“…However, Cheeke et al [ 43 ] found a reduction in AMF colonization in multiple Bt maize lines. There is general agreement that GM crops should be assessed on a case-by-case basis [ 2 , 58 , 59 ]. In this study, the Shannon ( H ) index showed no significant differences in AMF species diversity between ZD and ZD91 within the same growth stage in 2012 and 2013 ( Table 2 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Structure of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Rhizospheric Soil of a Transgenic High-Methionine Soybean and a Near Isogenic Variety

et al. 2015

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The use of transgenic plants in agriculture provides many economic benefits, but it also raises concerns over the potential impact of transgenic plants on the environment. We here examined the impact of transgenic high-methionine soybean ZD91 on the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal community structure in rhizosphere soil. Our investigations based on clone libraries were conducted in field trials at four growth stages of the crops each year from 2012 to 2013. A total of 155 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of AM fungi were identified based on the sequences of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) genes. There were no significant differences found in AM fungal diversity in rhizosphere soil during the same growth stage between transgenic soybean ZD91 and its non-transgenic parental soybean ZD. In addition, plant growth stage and year had the strongest effect on the AM fungal community structure while the genetically modified (GM) trait studied was the least explanatory factor. In conclusion, we found no indication that transgenic soybean ZD91 cultivation poses a risk for AM fungal communities in agricultural soils.

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“…T-RFLP analyses for the nifH gene revealed bands differing between the parental and transgenic tomato lines (Ikeda et al 2006). Typically, it is believed that GM crops should be assessed on a case-by-case basis (Andow and Hilbeck 2004, Gong and Wang 2013, Martinelli et al 2013, and our results showed no evidence of an impact on the rhizosphere nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria by the planting of transgenic soybean cv. ZD91.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 36%

High-methionine soybean has no significant effect on nitrogen-transforming bacteria in rhizosphere soil

JinGang¹,

Liu²,

Jiao³

et al. 2018

PLANT SOIL ENVIRON

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Transgenic plants may induce shifts in the microbial community composition that in turn alter microbially-mediated nutrient cycling in soil. Studies of how specific microbial groups respond to genetically modified (GM) planting help predict potential impacts upon processes performed by these groups. This study investigated the effect of transgenic high-methionine soybean cv. ZD91 on nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-oxidizing bacterial populations. A difference in nitrogen-fixing or ammonia-oxidizing bacteria community composition was not found, suggesting that cv. ZD91 does not alter the bacterial populations in rhizosphere soil. This study increases our understanding of the potential effect of transgenic soybean on microbial functional groups within soil by suggesting that nitrogen-transforming bacteria may be useful for future investigations on the GM crops impact in the soil ecosystem.

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Science, safety, and trust: the case of transgenic food

Cited by 14 publications

References 18 publications

Conflicts of interests, confidentiality and censorship in health risk assessment: the example of an herbicide and a GMO

Conflicts of interests, confidentiality and censorship in health risk assessment: the example of an herbicide and a GMO

Community Structure of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Rhizospheric Soil of a Transgenic High-Methionine Soybean and a Near Isogenic Variety

High-methionine soybean has no significant effect on nitrogen-transforming bacteria in rhizosphere soil

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