Prometheus 6

MON863 is a form of maize genetically modified to make it resistant to corn rootworm. It has been authorized by the European Union for use in animal feed since 2005 and for human consumption since January 2006....

The industry says the technology offers vast potential benefits, poses no health risk and has never been shown to contaminate other crops.

Oh really?

Fear and technology

Agricultural giant Monsanto has announced that it is halting plans to sell the world's first genetically engineered wheat.

In a statement, the company blamed a 25 percent drop in demand for wheat. (The Atkin's diet strikes again?) But industry observers speculate the company was bowing to pressure from American farmers who fretted that wheat buyers in Europe and Japan wouldn't buy the wheat because of heated consumer opposition to genetically modified foods. Even worse, some buyers threatened not to buy any U.S. wheat over concerns that the GM-wheat might get mixed in with nongenetically modified wheat. That intermingling is hardly an idle worry. Recently, there have been reports from Mexico that modified corn from the U.S. has somehow appeared in cornfields there.

Rice Recalled Over Gene Contamination
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 6, 2007; A08

The Agriculture Department last night took the unusual step of insisting that U.S. farmers refrain from planting a popular variety of long-grain rice because preliminary tests showed that its seed stock may be contaminated with a variety of gene-altered rice not approved for marketing in the United States.

GMO corn causes liver, kidney problems in rats: study

PARIS (Reuters) - Environmental group Greenpeace launched a fresh attack on genetically modified maize developed by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto, saying on Tuesday that rats fed on one version developed liver and kidney problems.

Greenpeace said a study it had commissioned that was published in the journal Archives of Environmental Contamination and Technology showed rats fed for 90 days on Monsanto's MON863 maize showed "signs of toxicity" in the liver and kidneys.

"It is the first time that independent research, published in a peer-reviewed journal, has proved that a GMO authorized for human consumption presents signs of toxicity," Arnaud Apoteker, a spokesman for Greenpeace France said in a statement.

Campaigners against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) say that genetic modification technology is unproven and potentially dangerous and that GMO crops can contaminate other crops.

The industry says the technology offers vast potential benefits, poses no health risk and has never been shown to contaminate other crops.

"All the experts agree that the maize in question is as safe as traditional maize," Yann Fichet, director external relations for Monsanto France told France's TF1 television.

He said the maize had been authorized in more than 10 countries and in the European Union but he declined to comment specifically on the allegations raised by Greenpeace.