GM Foods likely to cause impotence- says study by Austrian Government

A new study sponsored by Austrian government has identified serious health risks from genetically engineered (GE) crops. The preliminary findings presented on November 11, 2008 at a scientific seminar in Vienna, Austria, suggest that GE maize developed by Monsanto severely impaired fertility of mice when fed.

The findings were part of a long term study entitled “Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603 X MON 810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice”.  Presenting the study, Dr. Jürgen Zentek, Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Vienna and lead author of the study revealed that fertility of mice fed with GE maize was found to be severely impaired, with fewer offspring being produced than by mice fed on natural crops.

In the reproductive assessment study, in which the same parent generation gave birth to several litters of baby mice, the parents were fed with a diet containing 33 percent of GE maize variety, and a closely related non-GE variety for about of 20 weeks. Mice fed with GE maize had less offspring in the third and fourth generations as well as decreased litter size and weight compared to the control group. These results were statistically significant. In the GE-fed group more females remained without litters than in the control group. Mice fed with non-GE maize on the other hand reproduced more efficiently.

Owned by Monsanto, the GE maize variety (NK603 X MON 810) tested in the study herbicide tolerant and resistant to certain insect pests. It has been approved for planting and food use in many countries, including the US, Argentina, Japan, Philippines and South Africa. In Mexico and the European Union, it is approved for food and feed use.

“Most of the studies on GE crop safety have been conducted by biotech companies and are biased.  What is required is a transparent system to ensure stringent food and feed safety testing involving independent agencies. The Austrian findings are a wake up call for regulators “, said Suman Sahai, Convener of Gene Campaign. Given the health risk form GE crops, Gene Campaign calls for immediate recall of GE food from the market, a countrywide moratorium on GE foods and a strict liability regime.