...Some GM corn and cotton varieties are also designed to produce poison. Inserted genes from a soil bacterium produce an insect-killing poison called Bt-toxin in every cell of the plant. Bt is associated with allergic and toxic reactions in humans and animals, and may create havoc in our digestive system
” Bt is associated with allergic and toxic reactions in humans and animals”
UFO’s are associated with the mysterious disappearance of people.
“, and may create havoc in our digestive system “
LOL! MAY!!!!!!!!! and not one word to back up their claim of “MAY”!
“Some GM corn and cotton varieties are also designed to produce poison”
Did you know that that same ‘poison’ is the most common organic pesticide?
” Bt is associated with allergic and toxic reactions in humans and animals, and may create havoc in our digestive system “
hmmmm.....
4. Allergies to the Bt protein have never been observed. Smith cites papers that show that various types of antibodies can be formed against Bt. He does not bother to tell the reader that when almost any protein is injected under our skin or in our veins, our immune system will develop antibodies to it. This is a normal process. We also have antibodies to many different environmental and food proteins circulating in our bloodstreams where they do absolutely no harm. The antibodies associated with allergy are called IgE antibodies. IgE antibodies to Bt have never been reported. There are scientific articles showing this that Smith fails to cite (Siegel 2001; Betz and others 2000).
5. Bt protein binding sites are not present on mammalian cells. Bt proteins are known to act by binding to specific sites on insect gut cells—these sites are called binding sites. For Bt to kill an insect it must be activated by partial digestion, it must then attach to the binding site, and the protein must be inserted into the insect cell membrane where it forms a pore or hole in the cell membrane that eventually kills the insect (Whalon and Wingerd 2003). Mammalian cells lack these specific binding sites needed for Bt attachment. Proteins like Bt can sometimes stick to cells or other proteins in a non-specific or random way and it is not surprising that various investigators have found Bt binding to other kinds of cells, although high quality studies not mentioned by Smith that found no Bt binding to mammalian cells have been published (Betz and others 2003). Often this binding is weak and is easily reversed. These studies have never shown that mammalian cells binding Bt under these conditions are killed the way cell lining insect guts are killed by the toxin. To date all these studies have been categorized as “gratuitous binding” unrelated to the mode of action of Bt. Smith admits the results he cites are “ambiguous.”
6. Thousands of organic farmers depend on Bt as their most effective pesticide. The most common pesticides used by organic farmers contain Bt preparations. Organic farmers find them effective and innocuous (Zehnder and others 2007). Genetic Roulette seems to be casting doubt on their safety and is indirectly criticizing the regulation of biopesticides by the EPA. We find it hard to imagine organic agriculture without Bt products. We have to wonder if Smith is also opposed to organic agriculture.
http://academicsreview.org/reviewed-content/genetic-roulette/section-3/3-3-bt-crops-and-allergens/