Agricultural biotech company Monsanto and their GM products have often been cause for controversy; but this time they may not be the ones at fault. Recently, many in the scientific community have criticized and insisted on the retraction of an article that was published in the highly reputable Reed Elsevier journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology. The article, written by French researcher Gilles-Eric Seralini, showed that rats fed genetically modified Monsanto corn developed tumors and multiple organ failure. However, other scientists have noted the poor design methods of the study such as improper control groups and the use of a strain of mice prone to developing tumors. Other deficits in the paper include a potentially undisclosed conflict of interest, poor translation from French to English, no approval of animal use by an Animal Care Committee or its equivalent at Seralini’s institution, and inappropriate interpretation of results. In addition, the research paper neglected to provide full disclosure of its raw data, which raised suspicion regarding the validity of the results. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and six other national food safety bodies have reviewed the paper and independently concluded that the study failed to meet proper scientific standards. Despite these reviews and their conclusions, the paper has not been retracted. Instead, the publishing company and journal insist that the paper received the usual rigorous peer-review process.
Source: News Daily, Food and Chemical Toxicology
