Silvia Ribeiro et Kathy Jo Wetter travaillent toutes deux en tant que chercheuses pour l'Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group).
Vandana Shiva (India): Physicist, epistemologist, ecologist, and Indian feminist with a PhD in the philosophy of science. She founded “Navdanya,” an association which works to protect biodiversity...
New Scientist was founded in 1956, this internationally-focused weekly British magazine aims at giving readers exhaustive information on recent worldwide developments in science from a scientific,...
This professor of molecular biology also chairs the scientific board of CRII-GEN (Comité de Recherche et d'Information Indépendantes sur le génie Génétique), the main independent laboratory on GMO in...
A farmer in the1960s, Pierre Rabhi confronted very early on the problem of intensive agriculture and was appalled by the impacts of this practice on ecosystems. In the 1960s, he decided to develop,...
Frédéric Durand is senior lecturer at the Université de Toulouse II-Le Mirail and researcher at the Centre CNRS for Southeast Asia, is a specialist in environmental and developmental issues. He has...
The impact of transgenic crops on the environment and human health is currently the object of much research and controversial and labyrinthine debates, which for the most part, bring only partial answers to questions still under review.
Frédéric Durand calls our attention to the risks that the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) would pose to human health beyond the known risks of resistance and contamination of “natural” crops from these GMO crops. According to the geographer, the “making of GMOs” fundamentally modifies the function of living beings, thereby “changing” the very nature of organisms without man being aware of all the physical implications of those changes. Moreover, the possible advantages of GMOs do not necessarily justify the massive development of these crops outside of laboratories. In a cry from the heart, Pierre Rabhi, a noted expert in agro-ecology, denounces the “sham” of some scientists, entrepreneurs and politicians who he claims seriously violate the genetic plant order by developing the market for genetically modified food.
Frédéric Durand explains that the innocuousness of genetically modified ingredients has not yet been established, in spite of the fact that we have been consuming them. On the contrary, he mentions that in May 2005, the British press revealed that rats fed genetically modified maize sold in the U.K., MON863, had developed organ anomalies and blood chemistry changes. Moreover, in a study done in February 2007, French researchers from the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN) confirmed that rats fed this same maize for 90 days developed renal, hepatic, and metabolic anomalies, in addition to blood chemistry changes. Following this study (an excerpt of which is published below); CRIIGEN demanded a moratorium on all GMO consumption.
GMO advocates, some of whom are from the agro-industrial and scientific communities, have their own arguments to support the practice of this biotechnology. They claim, among other things, that GMOs can help to stop soil erosion, boost seeds' resistance to extreme climatic conditions, and reduce the presence of bacteria, viruses and mycotoxins, etc. According to them, GMOs might even help fight the greenhouse effect. This is established by the study conducted by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, reports the New Scientist.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers GMOs beneficial for food security because they improve the quantity and nutritional value of crops. According to the organisation, however, it is not currently possible to prove that food containing GMOs presents a greater health risk than traditional food. However, the report continues, vigilance must be maintained in order to detect any presence of substances that are harmful to man.
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