After listening to this Living on Earth segment I went nuts (and not in a good way), so I posted my concerns about this study:
This segment, unfortunately, downplays the serious concerns from many scientists about the validity of the Seralini study. Since the announcement of this study, countless articles have appeared to expose the scientific shoddiness of this research. I refer to two articles as examples:
In New Scientist http://bit.ly/SutEWB - a few of many concerns raised about the Seralini study:
- "the strain of rat the French team used gets breast tumours easily, especially when given unlimited food, or maize contaminated by a common fungus that causes hormone imbalance, or just allowed to age. There were no data on food intake or tests for fungus in the maize, so we don't know whether this was a factor."
- " Five of the 20 control rats – 25 per cent – got tumours and died, while 60 per cent in "some test groups" that ate GM maize died. Some other test groups, however, were healthier than the controls."
- In Forbes (in a special article by two recognized scientists) http://t.co/dPJBjpgh - a few of many concerns raised about the Seralini study:
- "the statistical methods employed were unconventional and appeared to be selected specifically in order to give a certain result. Tom Sanders, head of the nutritional sciences research division at King’s College London, called the treatment of data 'a statistical fishing trip.'"
- "inappropriate, unnecessary suffering of the rats, which should have been euthanized long before the tumors became so huge – an especially egregious ethics violation given that the study is, in any case, worthless."
There have also been concerns about how the Seralini team released their findings, in which they refused to allow journalists to show their findings to scientists before their release. This prevented a scientific expert review of the study before journalists published their news. Science writer Carl Zimmer has denounced this suspect practice http://t.co/H9nEF2EO
In addition, it should be noted that Seralini's earlier GMO corn study was discredited for scientific validity by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) several years ago http://bit.ly/QCAZHt - this is particularly noteworthy since the EFSA is certainly no friend to GMOs.
You can review the numerous articles describing the concerns about the new Seralini study for yourself - the links have been provided by VeganGMO http://bit.ly/PBSzZv
Taken together, the new Seralini study should be approached with ample skepticism, a point of view not taken in this Living on Earth segment.
