Meet Monsanto; Here’s what is being said by reputable sources Like the “National Institute of Health,” the “Organic Consumers Association,“ the “New York Times,” and others in the know.
Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation headquartered in Creve Coeur, GreaterSt. Louis, Missouri. It is a leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed and of the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand.
Founded in 1901 by John Francis Queeny, Monsanto initially produced food additives like saccharin and vanillin, expanded into industrial chemicals like sulfuric acid and PCBs in the 1920s, and by the 1940s was a major producer of plastics, including polystyrene and synthetic fibers. Notable achievements by Monsanto and its scientists as a chemical company included breakthrough research on catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation and being the first company to mass-produce light emitting diodes (LEDs). The company also formerly manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine somatotropin (a.k.a. bovine growth hormone). Monsanto was among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, along with three academic teams, which was announced in 1983,[5] and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops, which it did in 1987. It remained one of the top 10 U.S. chemical companies until it divested most of its chemical businesses between 1997 and 2002, through a process of mergers and spin-offs that focused the company on biotechnology.
1901 to WWII. Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1901, by John Francis Queeny, a 30‑year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry. He funded the start-up with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor and gave the company his wife’s maiden name (his father-in-law was Emmanuel Mendes de Monsanto, a wealthy financier of a sugar company active in Vieques, Puerto Rico, and based in St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies). The company’s first products were commodity food additives, like the artificial sweetener saccharin, caffeine, and vanillin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto
Genetically modified (GM) crops first appeared commercially in the mid-1990s to what seemed a bright and promising future. Resistant to pests and the herbicides used to control weeds, these new crops were so popular with farmers that millions of acres were planted with them by the turn of the millennium.
Today, GM crops are grown commercially by 8.25 million farmers on 200 million acres spread throughout 17 countries, reports the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), an international nonprofit that advocates for the technology. The world’s top five producers—the United States, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, and China—account for 96% of global GM cultivation; of this, more than half is in the United States. The opposition’s attacks are generating sustained impacts. In April 2004, biotech companies including Novartis Seeds, Aventis CropScience, and Bayer CropScience abandoned GM field trials in England, citing challenges raised by British consumers. The next month, Monsanto dropped its new variety of herbicide-resistant wheat despite hundreds of millions reputedly spent on research and development. The product was shelved in part because of threatened boycotts by Europe and Japan, which together buy 45% of all U.S. wheat exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (UDSA/ERS). And in November 2004, the world’s largest agrochemical company, the Swiss-based Syngenta, moved its European GM field trials to the United States, also citing public resistance.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1280366/
CONCLUSIONS
Under the conditions of these gavage studies, there was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity of of AZT in male heterozygous F1 p53+/– mice based on the occurrence of hepatocellular neoplasms (predominantly adenomas) after 45 weeks of administration. The occurrence of malignant lymphoma may have been related to AZT administration for 30 weeks. There was equivocal evidence of carcinogenic activity of AZT in female heterozygous F1 p53+/– mice based on the occurrence of malignant lymphoma after 45 weeks of administration
http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/testing/types/altmodels/reports/gmm14/index.html
Answers to critics: Why there is a long term toxicity due to a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize and to a Roundup herbicide. the conclusions of long-term NK603 and Roundup toxicities came from the statistically highly discriminant findings at the biochemical level in treated groups in comparison to controls, because these findings do correspond in an blinded analysis to the pathologies observed in organs, that were in turn linked to the deaths by anatomopathologists. GM NK603 and R cannot be regarded as safe to date.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23146697
Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize Marked and severe kidney nephropathies were also generally 1.3-2.3 greater. Males presented 4 times more large palpable tumors than controls which occurred up to 600 days earlier. Biochemistry data confirmed very significant kidney chronic deficiencies; for all treatments and both sexes, 76% of the altered parameters were kidney related. These results can be explained by the non linear endocrine-disrupting effects of Roundup, but also by the over expression of the transgene in the GMO and its metabolic consequences
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22999595
GMO’s. Who’s using them, and for what purpose? Companies like Monsanto, Bayer, Dow Agrosciences … in the herbicides and pesticides and seeds they sell to farmers who grow genetically engineered crops. Crops that eventually end up in our food, or in the feed used to fatten up animals in factory farms-animals we slaughter for food.
GMOs Are Killing the Bees, Butterflies, Birds and … ?
We need bees in order to grow food, or at least some of it. Yet the food-GMO food, drenched in neonics-we are growing is killing the bees.
https://www.organicconsumers.org/essays/gmos-are-killing-bees-butterflies-birds-and
37 millions bees found dead in Ontario, Canada after planting large GMO corn field treated with neonicotinoid class of pesticides (GMOs are indirectly causing the colony collapse, since 94% of GMO corn are treated with neonicotinoids)
http://seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/neonicotinoids-pesticides-colony-collapse-of-honeybees-suppressing-immune-system.php#sthash.ADXx9tR3.dpuf
Preventing GM cross-contamination is impossible, experts agree
http://www.naturalnews.com/045394_Monsanto_GM_alfalfa_Canada.html
Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance… Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup. It is a broad-spectrum herbicide, considered to be nearly nontoxic to humans (Williams et al., 2000). However, a recent paper (Samsel & Seneff, 2013), argued that glyphosate may be a key contributor to the obesity epidemic and the autism epidemic in the United States, as well as to several other diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, infertility, ndepression, and cancer. Glyphosate suppresses 5-enolpyruvylshikimic acid-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP synthase), the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of the aromatic amino acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, in the shikimate pathway of bacteria, archaea and plants (de María et al., 1996). In plants, aromatic amino acids collectively represent up to 35% of the plant dry mass (Franz, 1997). This mode of action is unique to glyphosate among all emergent herbicides. Humans do not possess this pathway, and therefore we depend upon our ingested food and our gut microbes to provide these essential nutrients. Glyphosate, patented as an antimicrobial (Monsanto Technology LLC, 2010), has been shown to disrupt gut bacteria in animals, preferentially killing beneficial forms and causing an overgrowth of pathogens. Two other properties of glyphosate also negatively impact human health –chelation of minerals such as iron and cobalt, and interference with cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, which play many important roles in the body. We will have much more to say about these aspects in later sections of this paper.
A recent study on glyphosate exposure in carnivorous fish revealed remarkable adverse effects throughout the digestive system (Senapati et al., 2009). The activity of protease, lipase, and amylase were all decreased in the esophagus, stomach, and intestine of these fish following exposure to glyphosate. The authors also observed “disruption of mucosal folds and disarray of microvilli structure” in the intestinal wall, along with an exaggerated secretion of mucin throughout the alimentary tract. These features are highly reminiscent of celiac disease. Gluten peptides in wheat are hydrophobic and therefore resistant to degradation by gastric, pancreatic and intestinal proteases (Hershko & Patz, 2008). Thus, the evidence from this effect on fish suggests that glyphosate may interfere with the breakdown of complex proteins in the human stomach, leaving larger fragments of wheat in the human gut that will then trigger an autoimmune response, leading to the defects in the lining of the small intestine that are characteristic of these fish exposed to glyphosate and of celiac patients. As illustrated in Figure 1, the usage of glyphosate on wheat in the U.S. has risen sharply in the last decade, in step with the sharp rise in the incidence of Celiac disease. We explain the reasons for increased application of glyphosate to wheat in Section13.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/
Top 10 Poisons that are the legacy of Monsanto
http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/poisons-legacy-Monsanto.php
Challenging the Biotech Bully
The Millions Against Monsanto Campaign was started by the Organic Consumers Association in the mid 1990’s to fight back against the biotech bullying of the infamous chemical company Monsanto, responsible for Agent Orange, PCBs, GMOs, environmental disasters and so much more.
Consumers shouldn’t have to rely on a technology that is not readily and/or equally available to everyone, and would no doubt be confusing to others. In more than 60 other countries, where laws require the mandatory labeling of GMOs, consumers can simply glance at the package their food comes in to instantly know whether or not the food contains genetically engineered ingredients.
https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/millions-against-monsanto
http://www.naturalnews.com/036010_Poland_Monsanto_GM_corn.html
Also, meet Michael R. Taylor, J.D., Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine
Michael R. Taylor
Michael R. Taylor was named deputy commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2010. He is the first individual to hold the position, which was created along with a new Office of Foods in August 2009.
Other positions held by Mr. Taylor include senior fellow, Resources for the Future; professor, School of Medicine, University of Maryland; partner, King & Spalding law firm; and vice president for public policy, Monsanto Company.
http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/OfficeofFoods/ucm196721.htm
Monsanto Controls both the White House and the US Congress
No Matter Who Wins the Presidential Election Monsanto Benefits
http://www.globalresearch.ca/monsanto-controls-both-the-white-house-and-the-us-congress/5336422
Signees of the petition argue that Monsanto should not have influence at the FDA because it will hurt farmers and threaten plants and animals. They cite scientific research that has found genetically modified foods could be a cause for chronic illnesses or cancer in the U.S.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/post/monsanto-petition-tells-obama-cease-fda-ties-to-monsanto/2012/01/30/gIQAA9dZcQ_blog.html
Agriculture and biotech giant Monsanto (MON) has become the poster child for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The St. Louis-based company has led efforts since the 1990s to make GMOs part of the nation’s diet. It also dominates the market for genetically modified crops, supplying farmers across the world with its corn, soy, sugar beets and alfalfa seeds. According to freelance reporter Chris Parker, who recently wrote a 4,000 word expose of Monsanto in the Village Voice newsweekly, Monsanto’s seeds “cover 40% of America’s crop acres and 27% worldwide
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/monsanto-controls-government-chris-parker-135253110.html
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court. When Danforth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976, Thomas left to become an attorney with the Monsanto Chemical Company in St. Louis, Missouri.[29] He moved to Washington, D.C. and returned to work for Danforth from 1979 to 1981 as a Legislative Assistant handling energy issues for the Senate Commerce Committee.[30] The two men shared a common bond in that they had studied to be ordained (although in different denominations). Danforth was to be instrumental in championing Thomas for the Supreme Court.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas
Clarence Thomas was the Attorney, for Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri 1977-1979
Legislative assistant, Senator John C. Danforth, Washington, DC, 1979-1981
Nominated by George H.W. Bush on October 30, 1989, to a seat vacated by Robert H. Bork; Confirmed by the Senate on March 6, 1990, and received commission on March 6, 1990. Service terminated on October 17, 1991, due to appointment to another judicial position.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/clarence_thomas/index.html
