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October/November 2008 Editorial |
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Written by HH
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Monday, 12 April 2010 |
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A New Setback for GMOs In Europe Although They Are Still Trying to Impose Them Upon Us After fourteen years, GMOs still represent a very small percentage of crops. Due to the pressure put on farmers, relative to better health, environmental and social controls, GMO manufacturers were only able to get 0.78% transgenic maize, as compared with the total amount of cultivated maize in Europe (that is 107219 ha vs 13.7 millions ha)! The maize variety called MON 810, which produces a new insecticide, is the only GMO authorized for growing in Europe. This insignificant percentage is even lower if one considers the total amount of various GMOs as compared with the total amount of European crops. But the situation is very different with contaminated imports, mainly by GMO soy, as Europe is more self-sufficient for maize. These plants contain some pesticides which are insufficiently evaluated in terms of health. In a petition (to be signed below), CRIIGEN asks very clearly that the blood analyses of the animals which ate the GMOs during the regulation toxicity tests should be made public. On the grounds of industrial protection, these tests are carried out by laboratories selected by the seed manufacturers involved, who happen to be both judge and judged. The scientific Commissions and Governments accepted that the tests involved remain confidential. These tests, if and when they do exist, last only for three months with mammals, which is truly outrageaous and in contradiction with legislative intentions. EFSA, that is the European Food Safety Authority suggests stopping to require the three-month tests involved, as the case occurred already in September 2008 for a new imported herbicide-tolerant GMO soy. However, the herbicide involved (ammonium glufosinate) is considered to be a neurotoxic chemical in scientific publications. The whole lax attitude would imply more profitable GMOs and would greatly facilitate their distribution. We need a deeper scientific strictness and a total openness, in order to protect all our fellow citizens. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 01 May 2010 )
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Written by HH
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Friday, 27 February 2009 |
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Formal Demand on Risks In an international context where there is more distrust towards GMOs (Carthagena Protocol in Europe) and a demand for better identification, and in the French context, the Grenelle de l'Environnement, CRIIGEN has decided to SET A DATE and TO FIX NOW THE POSSIBLE RESPONSABILITIES OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC POLICY-MAKERS. Consequently, CRIIGEN sends an open letter (open since 2001, see Homepage Open Letters section) to all CEOs of GMO manufacturing firms, in order to highlight the potential risks which can be generated by their products, inasmuch as they can be assessed, according to CRIIGEN, based on present knowledge. As the responsibility of the commercialization is shared with public decision-makers, a copy of this letter is sent to the Authorities as well (see July 31, 2001 open letter). By doing so, CRIIGEN hopes to impose a debate on risks, a debate that seed manufacturers and some public decision-makers try deliberately to avoid.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 April 2010 )
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New Study on Transgenic Salmon |
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Written by HH
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Monday, 08 December 2008 |
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Among the first animal GMOs in the world waiting the approval to be commercialized on a wide scale, we find salmons with growth hormone genetic doping. A Franco-Québécois team has just published, in an American review Environmental Science & Policy a whole file on risks and guidelines for the assessment of salmons and more generally of transgenic animals. "Factors to consider before production and commercialization of aquatic genetically modified organisms: the case of transgenic salmon", by Olivier Le Curieux-Belfond, Louise Vandelac, Joseph Caron and Gilles-Eric Séralini. In: Environmental Science & Policy 2009, vol. 12, pp 170-189 Lire l'article : http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2008.10.001 PRESS RELEASE |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 April 2010 )
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Marcel-Francis Kahn’s is Speaking Out on AFIS |
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Written by HH
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
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I was a member of both the Scientific Committee and the Patronage Committee of AFIS, which publishes the "Science and Pseudo-Science" bulletin. I have always fought all kinds of medical charlatanism. Everyone may have noticed that, under the influence of its editor, Jean-Paul Krivine, AFIS went under a transformation – without asking for our advice – into a real pro-GMO lobby. As a matter of fact, I am not convinced about the toxicity of MON810 maize, or of another GMO. What I read about it does not convince me, up to now. However, I am a fighter of the aggressive monopolistic strategy of Monsanto and of their various bogus companies. Therefore I required from Science et Pseudoscience editorial staff that my letters, in which I politely asked (with an open mind, without hinting at any scientific wrongdoings of theirs) that Marcel Kuntz and Louis-Marie Houdebine should indicate their links with Monsanto and their subsidiaries, the same as has become compulsory to tell about what is now labelled « conflicts of interest » in Medicine (I am in charge of a Medical Science Journal). Though I had warned that my presence in the Scientific Committee and the Patronage Committee would depend on the publication of my letters, these have never been published, and I never received an answer to my query. Consequently I resigned from both Committees, and I pointed out that I would make my resignation public With kind regards Doctor Marcel-Francis KAHN, Professor (Emeritus) of Medicine, Paris 7 |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 April 2010 )
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