GMO Food: Monsanto Weed Killer compared to AIDS
Dr. Don Huber is an expert in an area of science that relates to the toxicity of genetically engineered (GE) foods. (Alternative terms for GE foods include genetically modified (GM), or "GMO" for genetically modified organism.) His specific areas of training include soil-borne diseases, microbial ecology, and host-parasite relationships. Dr. Huber also taught plant pathology, soil microbiology, and micro-ecological interactions as they relate to plant disease as a staff Professor at Purdue University for 35 years. -- The major danger of genetically engineered foods may be related to the increased use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weed killer Glyphosate, which is the most common weed killer in the US and just happens to be more toxic than DDT. Roundup, can accumulate and persist in the soil for years, where it kills off beneficial microbes and stimulates virulence of pathogens -- Since organically-farmed fields are not doused with glyphosate, organic fields still contain beneficial soil bacteria that actually hinder pathogens in and on the food from multiplying out of control. This may be yet another reason why organic foods are less prone to be contaminated with disease-causing pathogens than conventionally-grown foods -- When applied to crops, glyphosate becomes systemic throughout the plant, so it cannot be washed off. And once you eat this crop, the glyphosate ends up in your gut where it can decimate your beneficial bacteria. This can wreak havoc with your health as 80 percent of your immune system resides in your gut and is dependent on a healthy ratio of good and bad bacteria -- Glyphosate is a strong chelator, meaning it immobilizes critical micronutrients, rendering them unavailable to the plant. As a result, the nutritional efficiency of genetically engineered (GE) plants is profoundly compromised. Micronutrients such as iron, manganese and zinc can be reduced by as much as 80-90 percent in GE plants In
As explained in part one of this interview, glyphosate is a strong chelator, meaning it immobilizes critical micronutrients, rendering them unavailable to the plant. As a result, the nutritional efficiency of genetically engineered (GE) plants is profoundly compromised. Micronutrients such as iron, manganese and zinc can be reduced by as much as 80-90 percent in GE plants.
Didn't anyone know this could happen? Part of the problem goes back to the fact that Monsanto's scientists were really only looking for a mechanism that would kill weeds. That's what happens when you assume and refuse to double-check your assumptions…
"As I read some of the early documents, it stated that it 'inhibits the EPSPs enzyme. Actual herbicide mode of action unknown.'" Dr. Huber says. "In 1984, it was very well-documented that the way it kills weeds and plants is by compromising the defense mechanisms, making them very susceptible to these soil borne organisms… It's a debilitating type of situation, more like AIDS than a direct killer...
Also, since humans and animals don't have the shikimate pathway, it was assumed that this is a pathway that exists only in plants and microorganisms. Therefore, it's going to be safe for us. It was also assumed that the foreign proteins – whether it's BT; the protein from glyphosate; that new EPSPs gene from the Agrobacterium – would readily be degraded in the gut… It's a flawed science."
In part one we began the discussion on the hazards of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, and its contribution to a new phenomenon referred to as "Sudden Death Syndrome" (SDS).
Glyphosate was first introduced as a weed killer in 1974, prior to the introduction of genetically modified crops. According to Dr. Huber, it has been so overused for the past 30 years that many essential soil organisms have been eradicated.
"Typically… when we would apply an herbicide, we would tell our growers, "You rotate the chemistry, just like you rotate the crop." Therefore, when you had an effect on a specific group of organisms, you have an opportunity for nature to rebalance and to reestablish that beneficial and functional relationship. We haven't done that with glyphosate. We just continually hammered for 30 years in one direction on those beneficial organisms… They no longer exist in the environment! We see that we have to start adding them now in order to increase crop productivity and nutritional value.
Dr. Huber has spent about 20 years researching how to remediate the damage caused by glyphosate. Fortunately, Dr. Huber believes we can turn it all around, but we MUST make changes. We cannot keep going the way we are.
"We have to start looking now at mineral supplementations and seed treatments," Dr. Huber says, "because our soil biology isn't going to provide it. The whole system has changed. If we want to change it for the better, we have to recognize what that change is and be willing to change again to compensate or to rectify."
If we continue in the same direction, dousing our crops with ever increasing amounts of glyphosate, we will soon start seeing the same effect on human health as Dr. Huber is seeing in plants and animals. In fact, we may already be seeing the effects of the genetically engineered diet.
"… [W]e're just starting to see the impact on reproductive fertility," he says. "Also the disease potential… You can hardly pick up the paper anymore without seeing that a human disease is involved… We had to recall 20 percent of our total egg production here last year or early this year because of salmonella.
You have to say, "What's changed?"
The newspaper said that when they looked at the egg-producing facilities "they had chicken manure and they had rodent droppings." … I have never seen a chicken coup that didn't have chicken drop. They have manure. Any time you have feed, even with three or four cats around and whatnot, you're going to have some rodents. That's NOT the reason."
Dr. Huber goes on to discuss a German paper that shows certain pathogens such as E. coli and some others have a high tolerance for glyphosate compared to their natural biological controls. What this means is that it may not be the presence or absence of pathogens per se that determines the safety of our food supply, but rather the presence or absence of the natural control organisms, which are effectively destroyed by glyphosate.
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