Study linking GMO crops and tumors in rats is re-published
By Tim Sandle Jun 29, 2014 in Science
Caen - A study that found health problems in rats exposed to genetically engineered maize proved controversial a few years ago. The fervor led to the study being withdrawn. It has now been re-edited and re-published.
The background to the study is that back in 2012, scientists based at the University of Caen in France published a study in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. The study, led by Gilles-Eric Séralini, found that rats exposed to genetically engineered maize were more likely to develop tumors and die earlier.
In the end, the journal editors ended up retracting the study after several letters and a review by the editors identified some research problems with the study. Two years later the study has been re-published by a different journal.
The re-published study, although containing new and revised material, reaches the same conclusions about the potential risks of genetically modified crops. The credibility of the paper is not held by other scientists. Joe Perry, a quantitative ecologist and visiting professor of biometry at the University of Greenwich, has told the Genetic Literacy Project:
"This paper appears to be based on the same data as Séralini's previous 2012 paper, with no real new information and only minor rephrasing and a few new references. Therefore, I doubt whether my conclusions would differ from those of the vast majority of independent members of the scientific community, who concluded in 2012 that there was insufficient evidence to justify the claims."
However, the paper also has its supporters. Michael Antoniou, head of the nuclear biology group at King's College London, also told the Genetic Literacy Project:
"The republication of the study after three expert reviews is a testament to its rigor, as well as to the integrity of the researchers. If anyone still doubts the quality of this study, they should simply read the republished paper. The science speaks for itself."
The revised study appears in Environmental Sciences Europe and is called "Republished study: long-term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize."
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