ISIS Report 21/04/11
Scientist Defends Claim
of New Pathogen Linked to GM Crops
Senior scientist stands up for his
claims amid storm of attacks; he deserves all
our support Dr.
Mae-Wan Ho
Please circulate widely
and forward to your political representatives
Leaked letter that took off in the
internet
A letter written by emeritus professor at
Purdue University Don Huber to US Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack linked genetically
modified (GM) soybeans and corn to
devastating crop diseases and high rates of
abortions and infertility in livestock (see
ISIS report [1] Emergency!
Pathogen New to Science Found in Roundup
Ready GM Crops? ISiS 50, which
attracted more than 3 000 likes
on facebook). It said the matter should be
treated as an emergency as it
could lead to a collapse of US soy and
corn export markets and significant
disruption of domestic food and feed supplies.
Monsanto lost no time in trying to
discredit Huber [2]; and though many
scientists have come out in his defence.
Huber was criticised for providing no
scientific evidence for his claims, nor did
he identify the team of researchers that have
discovered the pathogen (for fear of
compromising their career than anything else).
Bob Hartzler, an Iowa State University
agronomy professor, dismissed Hubers
claims, and told Associated Press that the
letter was [3] extremely unusual,
especially coming from the scientific
community.
But Huber insisted that the organism that
raised his concern was found in much higher
concentrations in corn and soybeans grown
from Roundup Ready seeds than in grains grown
from conventional seed (although the samples
of conventional crops tested were too small
to get a reliable result). He believes the
pathogen has made GM soybeans more
susceptible to sudden death syndrome and corn
to Goss wilt; and reaffirmed his
suspicion that it is linked to spontaneous
abortions and infertility in livestock fed on
the GM crops.
He said he wrote the letter to Vilsack
because he thought the US Department of
Agriculture needed to take immediate
action and provide resources to further
research his claims, but does not know
how the letter got circulated. The letter (dated
17 January 2011) was sent through a third
party to be hand-delivered to Vilsack.
The USDA acknowledged it had received the
letter. When asked by Associated Press, USDA
stated that we do not respond to third-party
letters, and declined to comment
further.
Huber, who now lives in Melba, Idaho, said
he began his research at Purdue and continued
it in collaboration with other scientists in
the Midwest, Florida, Brazil and Canada after
retiring in 2006. He would not name the other
scientists, saying they asked to remain
anonymous because the attention would distract
from the research.
The USDA has ignored Hubers warnings.
It deregulated alfalfa on 27 January, and in
February deregulated sugar beets, both
genetically modified to tolerate Roundup.
Huber stands by his claims
Huber, 76, emeritus soil researcher and
retired US Army colonel who served as an
intelligence analyst for 41 years, stands by
his claims. In a three-hour talk to a
gathering of 80 farmers, he began by telling
the congregation that he has been married for
52 years with 11 children, 36 grandchildren,
and a great-grandchild on the way [4]. He
then launched into a highly technical seminar
on industrial agriculture, genetic
engineering, and the widespread use of
herbicides, especially glyphosate and Roundup
(Monsantos formulation), and the
evidence of the herbicides toxicity to
both plants and animals. More than 155
million acres of cropland were treated with
glyphosate during the 2008 growing season,
and more by now.
He told his audience that glyphosate
compromises plant defence mechanisms and
increases their susceptibility to disease. It
reduces the availability and uptake of
essential nutrients, and increases the
virulence of pathogens that attack plants.
All that was documented in more than a
hundred papers published in peer-reviewed
scientific journals (see [5] Scientists
Reveal Glyphosate Poisons Crops and Soil
and other articles in the series, SiS
47).
Finally, Huber reported on the newly
discovered pathogen, which, while not new to
the environment, is new to science.
Thepathogen apparently increases in soil
treated with glyphosate, and is then taken up
by plants, transmitted to animals via their
feed, and onward to human beings by the
plants and meat they consume. The pathogen is
very small, and can be seen only via an
electron microscope magnified 38 000 times.
It has yet to be describedor named, though
work on that is almost complete, Huber said,
and all the research data would be published
in a matter of weeks.
What made Huber write to Tom Vilsack?
USDA was about to approve the unrestricted
use of GM alfalfa seeds that could result in
as many as 20 million more acres being
sprayed with up to 23 million more pounds of
toxic glyphosate herbicides each year.
Because alfalfa is pollinated by bees that
fly and cross-pollinate between fields many
miles apart, the biotech crop will inevitably
contaminate natural and organic alfalfa.
I believe the threat we are facing
from this pathogen is unique and of a high-risk
status, Huber wrote. In laymans
terms, it should be treated as an emergency.
Vilsack authorized deregulation of GM alfalfa
on 27 January. Immediately after that, the
Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice filed
a lawsuit against the USDA, charging that its
approval of GM alfalfa was unlawful.
Huber needed just $25 000 to sequence the
genome of the newly identified pathogen, and
then to name it. But no government,
university, or corporation would provide that
relatively paltry sum. Finally, a private
individual made the money available; by then,
the lab originally keen to do the sequencing
backed out as the issue had become
controversial. Still, Huber persevered, and
said they should be able to name the pathogen
in a matter of weeks
EU president warned
A posting [6] on the Food Democracy Now
website in April contained another
letter sent by Huber to the EU and UK
commissions at their request, to
provide a more detailed explanation of his
letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Huber began: I wrote the letter to
Secretary Vilsack for a very simple reason:
we are experiencing a large number of
problems in production agriculture in the U.S.
that appear to be intensified and sometimes
directly related to genetically engineered (GMO)
crops, and/or the products they were
engineered to tolerate especially
those related to glyphosate [the active
chemical in Roundup® herbicide and generic
versions of this herbicide]. We have
witnessed a deterioration in the plant health
of corn, soybean, wheat and other crops
recently with unexplained epidemics of
sudden death syndrome of soybean (SDS), Goss
wilt of corn, and take-all of small grain
crops the last two years. At the same time,
there has been an increasing frequency of
previously unexplained animal (cattle, pig,
horse, poultry) infertility and spontaneous
abortions. These situations are threatening
the economic viability of both crop and
animal producers.
The letter went on to say that it was the
rising incidence of high infertility and
spontaneous abortions in various animal
species that triggered the investigations.
After ruling out all previously known causes,
they found the new pathogen. Detailed
examination showed that it is present in
all of the cases examined to date. A
search for the source of animal infections
revealed that the new organism was abundant
in soybean meal and corn products. The
organism appears to be compatible and
synergistic with other microorganisms such as
Fusarium solani fsp. glycines that
causes sudden death syndrome of soybeans, and
the gram positive bacterium Clavibacter
michiganensis subsp. Nebraskensis that
causes Goss wilt in corn.
Although most corn hybrids have been
genetically resistant to Goss wilt,
preliminary research in 2010 demonstrated
that the application of glyphosate herbicide,
or the surfactant from glyphosate
formulations (Roundup) made them fully
susceptible to this pathogen. This disease
was common in many Midwestern US fields
planted with Roundup Ready (RR) corn in 2009
and 2010, while adjacent non-GM corn had very
light to no infections despite the high
inoculum present in no-till crop residues.
The increased Goss wilt in 2010 was a
major contributor to the estimated loss of
almost one billion bushels of corn that year
in spite of generally good harvest conditions.
Increased severity of plant diseases after
glyphosate application is well documented,
Huber said, and, although rarely cited, the
increased disease susceptibility is due to
the glyphosate herbicides. The loss of
disease resistance in RR sugar beets when
glyphosate was applied prompted researchers
at the USDA sugar beet laboratory to include
a precautionary statement in their paper [7]:
Precautions need to be taken when
certain soil-borne diseases are present if
weed management for sugar beet is to include
post-emergence glyphosate treatments.
All these findings raise special concerns
for the deregulation of RR alfalfa, which,
Huber explains, is productive in many
areas only because of its genetic resistance
to bacterial wilt caused by Clavibacter
michiganensis subsp. insidiosum. If
the new organism is associated with the wilt
disease in alfalfa as it is in corn, that
would make the alfalfa also unsafe for animal
feed, and their products such as milk for
human consumption.
Alfalfa is the USs most valuable
forage crop and fourth most economically
important crop, and its loss could strike
a mortal blow to struggling dairy and beef
operations.
Thereafter, Huber reiterated the
scientific evidence that clearly indicates
glyphosates strong chelating action
that prevents the plant from absorbing
essential nutrients, undermining the plants
immune system and many other vital functions
such as nutrient recycling, and nitrogen
fixation; weakening the plant so it becomes
highly susceptible to diseases. (See [8] Glyphosate
Tolerant Crops Bring Diseases and Death,
SiS 47).
Finally, Huber mentioned deleterious
effects of GM crops in report from livestock
producers in the US, emphasizing that
replicated independent research is needed in
this area, especially in light of the serious
toxicological concerns raised recently that
show potential human and animal toxicity from
very low levels of residual glyphosate in
food/feed that are many times lower than
permitted in US food and feed products [9] (see
[10] Ban
Glyphosate Herbicides Now, SiS 43); and
also the recent Indian Supreme Courts
ruling that GM egg plants health risk
to humans needs further evaluation (see [11] Bt
Brinjal Halted, SiS 46).
He wrote: I feel I would be totally
irresponsible to ignore my own research and
the vast amount of published research now
available that support the concerns we are
seeing in production agriculture, without
bringing it to the attention of the Secretary
of Agriculture with a request for him to
initiate the much needed independent research.
Many producers cant wait an additional
3-10 years for someone to find the funds and
neutral environment to conduct such critical
research.
Huber attached in addition, a letter to
the US Environment Protection Agency sent by
26 leading corn insect scientists
working at public research institutions
located in 16 corn producing states
complaining that the Technology/stewardship
agreements imposed by biotech companies
like Monsanto are preventing access to GM
seeds and inhibiting their research. As a
result, data flowing to an EPA
Scientific Advisory Panel from the public
sector is unduly limited. This says it
all. Corporations have a stranglehold on
scientific research and the flow of
scientific information (see [12] Corporate
Monopoly of Science, SiS 42).
Huber is a leader among the growing
ranks of honest scientists desperate to
reclaim science for the public good, and
deserves all our support. As I have indicated,
Huber is alerting us to what could be the
worst nightmare of genetic engineering that
some scientists have been warning for years [13]
(see Genetic
Engineering Dream or Nightmare, ISIS
publication): the unintended creation of new
pathogens through assisted horizontal gene
transfer and recombination. This issue is
very much alive today, despite years of
denial and suppression from proponents and
regulators alike (see [14] Scientists
Discover New Route for GM-gene 'Escape', SiS
50).
References
1. Ho MW. Emergency! Pathogen new to
science found in Roundup Ready GM crops?
Science in Society 50 (to appear)
2. Monsanto begins smear campaign on
Huber, Paul Tukey, Safe Lawns Blog, 26
February 2011, http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/02/monsanto-begins-smear-campaign-on-huber/
3. Scientists question claims in
biotech letter, The Associated Press, 1
April 2011,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iopb9HFpyKKavk1TjlITXBddXHNw?docId=c05f8b8ddcdb442c8d363e3cbeddb647
4. Monsanto is poisoning us all:
famous scientist, Don Huber exposes hazards
of Monsantos Roundup herbicide,
Steven McFadden, 29 March 2011, http://laudyms.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/monsanto-is-poisoning-us-all-famous-scientist-don-huber-exposes-hazards-of-monsantos-roundup-herbicide/
5. Ho MW. Scientists reveal glyphosate
poisons crops & soil. GM meltdown
continues. Science
in Society 47, 10-11, 2010.
6. Professor Don Huber's cover
letter to the EU and UK commissions,
Food Democracy Now,
Posted by Lisa on 6 April 2011, http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/blog/2011/apr/6/don-hubers-cover-letter-euuk-commissions/
7. Larsen RL, Hill AL, Fenwick A, Kniss AR,
Hanson LE, and Miller SD. Influence of
glyphosate on Rhizoctonia and Fusarium root
rot in sugar beet. Pest Manag Sci 2006.
62, 1182-92.
8. Ho MW and Cherry B. Glyphosate tolerant
crops bring diseases and death. Science
in Society 47.12-15, 2010.
9. Seralini G-E, Mesnage R, Clair E, Gress
S, de Vendomois JS, Cellier D. 2011.
Genetically modified crops safety assessments:
present limits and possible improvements. Environ
Sci Europe 2011, 23, 10-20. http://www.enveurope.com/content/23/1/10
10. Ho MW. Ban glyphosate herbicides now. Science
in Society 43, 34-35, 2009.
11. Ho MW. Bt brinjal halted. Science
in Society 46, 22, 2010.
12. Saunders PT. Corporate monopoly of
science. Science
in Society 42. 12-13, 2009.
13. Ho MW. Genetic Engineering Dream of
Nightmare? The Brave New World of Bad Science
and Big Business, Third World Network,
Gateway Books, MacMillan, Continuum, Penang,
Malaysia, Bath, UK, Dublin, Ireland, New York,
USA, 1998, 1999, 2007 (reprint with extended
Introduction). http://www.i-sis.org.uk/genet.php
14. Ho MW. Scientists discover new route
for GM-gene escape. Science in
Society 50 (to appear).