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Article: The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods

Mehm

Mehm

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Chinese researchers have found small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the blood and organs of humans who eat rice. The Nanjing University-based team showed that this genetic material will bind to proteins in human liver cells and influence the uptake of cholesterol from the blood.

The type of RNA in question is called microRNA, due to its small size. MicroRNAs have been studied extensively since their discovery ten years ago, and have been linked to human diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. The Chinese research provides the first example of ingested plant microRNA surviving digestion and influencing human cell function.

Should the research survive scientific scrutiny, it could prove a game changer in many fields. It would mean that we're eating not just vitamins, protein, and fuel, but information as well.
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http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-very-real-danger-of-genetically-modified-foods/251051/
 
Holy shit that person writing the article has an agenda against GMO foods. Where do I begin?

First of all, there was absolutely no link between that scientific article and GMO foods. Absolutely none. What was the actual link they discovered? That miRNA was detected in rice, in animals who ate green rich fodder (calves), crucifers (Brassicaceae), Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa pekinensis), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and potato (Solanum tuberosum).

So really, they discovered that simply eating food (plant based) introduces miRNA into our diets. If anything, this is much more relevant to people's normal, daily diets than GMO foods.

And please don't interpret me as saying that GMO foods are 100%, completely safe. I believe they may have some health risks due to inadequate testing. But that is a totally different issue, and separate from what was discovered here. The author of the article simply extracts the little headline from the article, assumes it applies to GMO foods, and also assumes that they are worse (and only bad) in GMO foods.


Look at the author's conclusions from the paper:
Given that exogenous miRNAs in food or miRNAs that are 'added' into the food can enter the circulation and various organs of animals and play a role in regulating the physiological or pathophysiological conditions, food-derived exogenous miRNAs may be qualified as a novel nutrient component, like vitamins and minerals.....In this sense, miRNAs may represent a novel class of universal modulators that play an important role in mediating animal-plant interactions at the molecular level. Like vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients derived from food sources, plant miRNAs may serve as a novel functional component of food and make a critical contribution to maintaining and shaping animal body structure and function. Extending from this concept, the intake of certain plant miRNAs generation after generation through a particular food source may leave an imprint on the genetic map of the human race. In conclusion, the discovery of plant miRNAs and their roles in the biology of mammalian cells and animal organs represents the first evidence of cross-kingdom transfer of functionally active miRNAs and opens a new avenue to explore miRNA-mediated animal-plant interactions.
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Adding to the author's conclusions, miRNA's have also been found useful in treating cancer, and reversing various pain states (all animal work so far), which the author of that Atlantic article glosses over. Basically, this article was a shoddy journalism attempt at attacking GMO companies, using what is essentially fabricated evidence.
 
Sturnam said:
Holy shit that person writing the article has an agenda against GMO foods. Where do I begin?

First of all, there was absolutely no link between that scientific article and GMO foods. Absolutely none. What was the actual link they discovered? That miRNA was detected in rice, in animals who ate green rich fodder (calves), crucifers (Brassicaceae), Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa pekinensis), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and potato (Solanum tuberosum).

So really, they discovered that simply eating food (plant based) introduces miRNA into our diets. If anything, this is much more relevant to people's normal, daily diets than GMO foods.

And please don't interpret me as saying that GMO foods are 100%, completely safe. I believe they may have some health risks due to inadequate testing. But that is a totally different issue, and separate from what was discovered here. The author of the article simply extracts the little headline from the article, assumes it applies to GMO foods, and also assumes that they are worse (and only bad) in GMO foods.


Look at the author's conclusions from the paper:


Adding to the author's conclusions, miRNA's have also been found useful in treating cancer, and reversing various pain states (all animal work so far), which the author of that Atlantic article glosses over. Basically, this article was a shoddy journalism attempt at attacking GMO companies, using what is essentially fabricated evidence.
Click to expand...

Yes, the article is badly written, but that is probably because the writer has no idea how to explain this to laymen.

What I basically got out of this article:

Plant foods introduce these miRNAs into our bodies, which was, up until recently, undiscovered by scientists.

Monsanto, possibly the leading GMO creator, says that their miRNA stemming from their crops does not do damage to the human body.

Analogy of the pizza: normal miRNAs found in non-GM foods will only help the pizza get to its destination (not cause injury to the body or attempt to overthrow other cells located in the body) -- miRNAs found in GM foods have been shown to stop that pizza's delivery, or send it elsewhere, providing trickery on the body (cause injury to the body in the form of mental and physical disabilities over the span of time).

The rice in China must be from a GM Monsanto crop for this information to loop around the way it should. If the rice in China is GM, then the connection is made that the GM rice crops are causing harm to the human body, contrary to all of Monsanto's lobbying and could start all new scientific evidence of the fight against GM products.

The conclusion that was given is that this study is non-conclusive, but a starting point to future studies.
 
Good critique Sturnam. I however don't need scientific certainty to exercise caution. The fact that we are absorbing miRNA at all should make us that more conscious of what we are consuming.
 
Simply_Live said:
Monsanto, possibly the leading GMO creator, says that their miRNA stemming from their crops does not do damage to the human body.

Analogy of the pizza: normal miRNAs found in non-GM foods will only help the pizza get to its destination (not cause injury to the body or attempt to overthrow other cells located in the body) -- miRNAs found in GM foods have been shown to stop that pizza's delivery, or send it elsewhere, providing trickery on the body (cause injury to the body in the form of mental and physical disabilities over the span of time).
Click to expand...

Really? Where did you find this information? My impression was, like you said, that the discovery of miRNA was recent. So, how do we know that GM foods have miRNA that is any different? We don't know that the inserted gene codes for any miRNA, let alone whether it is good or bad. That study also didn't exactly prove that "normal" miRNA are safe, or healthy.

To me, this study holds more promise as to the potential interaction between plant miRNA and mammalian cells. Maybe one of the miRNA's prevents tumor growth, and could be used as an anti-cancer drug because humans have a long history co-existing with these plant miRNA.

Mehm, I agree that scientific certainty isn't needed to exercise caution. In some cases, the 'science' lacks far behind, as with the discovery of "beer goggles". But I disagree that this should necessarily warrant caution, as intake of the items tested (plant-based) are usually correlated with reduced incidence of diseases. So, I think that these plant-based miRNA might prove beneficial, at least by some measures.
 
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