Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a natural insecticide that produces a toxin called Cry1Ab protein. This protein is produced by some corn crops that have undergone genetic modification to produce GMO products.
A new lab study has shown that the Cry1Ab toxin causes cell death in human embryonic kidney cells, and that combining Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac toxins with the effects of the pesticide Roundup, could delay apoptosis, which could promote cancer. Some corn crops are made resistant to pesticides such as glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, by genetic modification, and this study also showed that this pesticide on its own causes necrosis (tissue destruction) in doses lower than those used in agriculture. The study was conducted by Gilles-Eric Séralini of the University of Caen, France, and colleagues and published in the
Journal of Applied Toxicology.
Recent research has also shown that Cry1Ab protein is detectable in the blood of pregnant women, their fetuses, and also in non pregnant women. Glyphosate was also detected in non pregnant women. This study was published in the journal
Reproductive Toxicology.
Further evidence of the toxic effects of genetically modified Bt plants, which produce
Bt toxins, was recently shown by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and published in the journal
Environmental Sciences Europe. This study showed that Cry1Ab toxin fed to
A. bipunctata (ladybeetle)larvae increases their mortality.
These research findings show that GMO products contain toxins that can be absorbed by humans, and that they may cause serious side effects.
