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Release: Austrian Government Study - Institute for Responsible Technology

(Los Angeles, CA.) - A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, managed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, and carried out by Veterinary University Vienna, confirms genetically modified (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world.

Feeding mice with genetically modified corn developed by the US-based Monsanto Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek said, there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently.

In the study, Austrian scientists performed several long-term feeding trials over 20 weeks with laboratory mice fed a diet containing 33% of a GM variety (NK 603 x MON 810), or a closely related non-GE variety used in many countries. Statistically significant litter size and pup weight decreases were found in the third and fourth litters in the GM-fed mice, compared to the control group.  

The corn is genetically modified with genes that produce a pesticidal toxin, as well as genes that allow it to survive applications of Monsanto's herbicide Roundup.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 21st, 2008 at 02:08:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
This looks like a serious study over time, of the kind that have not been fully carried out before, and it bears the stamp of the Austrian Health and Food Safety Agency. It at the very least shows that fullscale trials should be carried out before the EU allows GM corn to be planted and used as cattle feed.

The study itself is here.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Nov 21st, 2008 at 03:28:55 PM EST
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