Genetically Modified crops are destroying your health as well as bees, birds, lady bugs and butterflies
Like bees and butterflies, lady bugs are also an important part of our ecosystem and are essential to the biodiversity of our food supply. "Lady Bugs are tremendous carnivores that can eat lots of significant agricultural pests including aphides and mites without posing other risk to human health” says Doug Taron, curator of biology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago."
As essential as lady bugs are to biodiversity of our food supply, new research shows that Cry1Ab toxins (B. thuringiensis—BT toxin), Monsanto’s best selling herbicide ‘Roundup’ and crops that are resistant to Glyphosate are toxic to lady bugs:
Studies have linked Cry1Ab toxins (B. thuringiensis—BT toxin) mainly found in GMO crops such as soy, corn and wheat to a wide range of health issues including kidney toxicity and cancer. Research shows that when Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac found in GE crops are combined with Roundup, they can even be more toxic causing necrosis - the death of human tissue.
Researchers have also discovered that BT toxin could increase lady bug mortality by killing their larvae. According to researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Institute of Integrative Biology “When repeating the feeding experiments with the Bt toxin Cry1Ab using a combined protocol of both previous studies, again, a lethal effect on A. bipunctata larvae was observed. ELISA tests with Bt-toxin fed larvae and pupae confirmed ingestion of the toxin.”
GE crops resistant to BT toxin or glyphosate are also making Monarch and bee colonies to go extinct:
Butterflies pollinate about 75% of our food supply. There used to be over 60 million butterflies migrating to US from Mexico, so their larvae could dine on milkweed. However, over the last few years, the number of butterflies has been enormously declining, causing 80% decline in the presence of milkweed in US.
According to Iowa State University biologist, Dr John Pleasants, before Roundup, milkweed used to grow throughout the fields, but now there isn’t a single milkweed plant to be found. Both Monsanto and FDA know that as Roundup kills unwanted weeds, it also destroys milkweed which is Monarch food.
While Roundup kills the Monarch food, the toxic pollen from GE corn full of BT toxin kills the butterflies:
According to studies, including the one by Cornell University, the pollen from Monsanto’s GMO corn can kill the butterflies. According to researchers, none of the butterflies who eat pollen from organic corn died while 44% of Monarchs who ate pollen from GE corn (filled with Bt toxin) dropped dead within 4 days.
According to researchers, Bt toxin found in GE pollen goes into the gut of the caterpillar and it binds into specific areas like the butterflies’ gut wall. As a result, the gut wall of the butterfly changes from a protective layer to an open sieve and pathogens that are usually kept within the gut are now excreted and released into the insect's body. This makes the caterpillar get sick quickly and die.
The leading author of the study, John E. Losey, says "we need to look at the big picture here. Pollen from Bt-corn could represent a serious risk to populations of monarchs and other butterflies, but we can't predict how serious the risk is until we have a lot more data. And we can't forget that Bt-corn and other transgenic crops have a huge potential for reducing pesticide use and increasing yields. This study is just the first step, we need to do more research and then objectively weigh the risks versus the benefits of this new technology."
According to Cornell instructor in entomology, Linda S. Rayor, "Monarchs are considered to be a flagship species for conservation. This is a warning bell," says Rayor. "Monarchs themselves are not an endangered species right now, but as their habitat is disrupted or destroyed, their migratory phenomenon is becoming endangered."
Insecticides like neonicotinoids that are sprayed on 95% of US GE corn are responsible for extinction of honeybees:
Many studies have proven that colony collapse of bees is no longer a mystery and Neonicotinoid class of pesticides and clothianidin could adversely affect the immune system of honeybees by promoting replication of a viral pathogen in them: http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/gmo-corn-treated-with-neonicotinoids-pesticides-manufactured-by-Bayer-Syngenta-kill-honeybees.php
Last year, 37 millions bees were found dead in Ontario, Canada after planting large GMO corn field treated with neonicotinoid class of pesticides. Soon after, another study published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that neonicotinoid pesticides kill honeybees by damaging their immune system and making them unable to fight diseases and bacteria: http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/neonicotinoids-pesticides-colony-collapse-of-honeybees-suppressing-immune-system.php
Enough number of studies suggests that Bt toxin found in the blood of 93% pregnant women and their unborn fetuses kills human embryo cells and is linked to leukemia and anemia:
A study back in February 2012 showed how BT toxin kills human cells. Shortly after, another study published by the Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Diseases has linked Bacillus Thuringensis (Bt) to blood abnormalities like anemia and a type of blood cancer known as leukemia. http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/study-links-gmo-leukemia-anemia.php
Beside the side effects of Bt toxin, other studies have linked the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup called glyphosate with cancer, fatal kidney disease, allergies and organ toxicity.
Despite all these compelling evidences, the biotech denies that GE crops are a big threat to human’s health and the environment. Although Monsanto, USDA and FDA still deny GE harms to human’s health and the environment, the fact is that wide-spread GE contamination is now threatening the livelihood of organic farmers, biodiversity and the integrity of our native food supply. Find out how US Farmers report widespread GE contamination: http://seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/bio-rape-widespread-cross-contamination-of-GMO-crops-over-native-organic-food-supply.php
Sources:
http://naturalsociety.com/monsanto-killing-monarchs/
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/1999/04/toxic-pollen-bt-corn-can-kill-monarch-butterflies
http://naturalsociety.com/gmos-killing-lady-bugs/
