b1) Yes, GreenPeace and some silly Enviro-groups have been targeting Monsanto for quite some time now.
a2) HOWEVER, humans have not been modifying crops to make them toxic to insects through protein modification, modification that has been shown in LONGER tests than those done by Monsanto to have Hepatotoxity.
b2) Just because enviro-whackjobs target Monsanto doesn't mean that that makes the target hysop white! Snakes eat rats, but that doesn't mean the rat is kosher to cuddle with.
I am a fund manager, and thus I am no bleeding heart liberal. However that doesn't mean that I will be all kissy-@$$ on Monsanto just because some Tofu eaters wag a bony finger at it. Monsanto has done some interesting things, ranging from safety tests that are just funny, to some lobby efforts that are exceedingly questionable (like using their lobbying power, both parties, to try and push through Bovine Somatotropin in milk. Bovine Somatotoprin is a sythentic compound used to boost milk production, with the hormone really improving milk yields. The issue is that it has been tied with various types of cancers. Now, I have no problem if people want to drink milk from cows that were given the hormone, as much as I would not like for someone to say that I should not drink organic milk. However, when organic farmers started labeling their milk as sythentic hormone free, Monsanto started massive lobbying to make states BAN producers who made hormone-free milk from saying their milk was hormone free!!!!!!!!! Something about consumers not being properly informed!)
I'm sure the Enviros have villified Monsanto quite a bit, but then again Monsanto is not some 12 yr old flower girl being picked on by neighborhood bullies.
I am currently reading Anticancer, A New Way of Life by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber. It is very interesting. He discusses these same issues using scientific and medical data. All of his information is footnoted so you can investigate for yourself. He is a cancer survivor based on diet alteration. He started his exploration after his diagnoses, based on his research that indicated higher cancer rates after WWII and diet alteration after WWII.
Selective breeding methods of crops to achieve disease resistance has been going on for thousands of years. Modern genetic modification techniques now allow for the same results in a much shorter period of time. There is no credible scientific evidence to show that the ingestion of GM products is harmful to human health or the environment.
Monsanto has done some interesting things, ranging from safety tests that are just funny, to some lobby efforts that are exceedingly questionable (like using their lobbying power, both parties, to try and push through Bovine Somatotropin in milk. Bovine Somatotoprin is a sythentic compound used to boost milk production, with the hormone really improving milk yields.
Monsanto is an industry dynamo that is creaming their competition. No one in the industry can touch their R&D. For some reason, people like to demonize success. How anyone can criticize this company for creating a method for increasing milk production, or overall food production, is a mystery. Norman Borlaug argued for genetic modification of food and saved hundreds of millions of people, if not billions, from starvation. He had to deal with the same fear mongering by people who held a fraction of his knowledge. Thankfully, he prevailed and became the most famous American no one ever heard of.
The issue is that it has been tied with various types of cancers
People fear things they don't understand. bST is naturally produced by a cow's pituitary gland and is no different than the synthetic hormone dairy cows are injected with. Although it does increase the amount of Insulin Growth Factor (IGF) in milk (IGF is the hormone linked to the cancer you mention) this IGF is digested like all other dietary proteins and any hormonal activity is destroyed in the process. It poses absolutely no risk. If these claims were true, then human colostrum, human breast milk and, in truth, all milk would cause cancer.
Monsanto is no shrinking violet and has stood up to the toxic terrorists and other assorted and sundry enviro-whackos who would ruin a great American company. They do all of this while outperforming the competition in a tough industry. For that, they deserve admiration. They wouldn't be so successful if they weren't delivering products and services people wanted. The anti-industry whackos don't understand this important point. Monsanto, and all companies like them, should be defended by conservatives against those who would vilify them, and vilify industry in general.