Insecticides from genetically modified corn polluting rivers across the United States

I read somewhere, for the life of me cannot find it now, where the gmo plants with the pesticide built in, are responsible for the honeybee population declines in recent years. This stuff is bad news. I don't need this crap in my garden. If I can find the link I'll post it. Agribusiness will be the death of us if we let it.

"Few hard data" "remains unclear" "speculated"...no definitive answers...those only show that it is being researched. Still getting your info by googling jan? Have to report comments cause you can't handle anyone questioning you?

"Few hard data" "remains unclear" "speculated"...no definitive answers...those only show that it is being researched. Still getting your info by googling jan? Have to report comments cause you can't handle anyone questioning you?

http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Paper/5360482.aspx

Occurrence and persistence of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and transgenic Bt corn cry1Ab gene from an aquatic environment (Citations: 5)

M. Douville, F. Gagne, C. Blaise, C. Andre

Genetically modified corn crops and suspensions of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are currently used to control pest infestations of insects of the Lepidoptera family. For this purpose, the cry1Ab gene coding for protein d-endotoxin derived from B. thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk), which is highly toxic to these insects, was inserted and expressed in corn. The aims of this study were to examine the occurrence and persistence of the cry1Ab gene from Btk and Bt corn in aquatic environments near fields where Bt corn was cultivated. First, an optimal DNA preparation and extraction methodology was developed to allow for quantitative gene analysis by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in various environmental matrices. Second, surface water and sediment were spiked in vitro with genomic DNA from Bt or Bt corn to evaluate the persistence of cry1Ab genes. Third, soil, sediment, and water samples were collected before seeding, 2 weeks after pollen release, and after corn harvesting and mechanical root remixing in soils to assess cry1Ab gene content. DNA was extracted with sufficient purity (i.e., low absorbance at 230 nm and absence of PCR-inhibiting substances) from soil, sediment, and surface water. The cry1Ab gene persisted for more than 21 and 40 days in surface water and sediment, respectively. The removal of bacteria by filtration of surface water samples did not significantly increase the half-life of the transgene, but the levels were fivefold more abundant than those in unfiltered water at the end of the exposure period. In sediments, the cry1Ab gene from Bt corn was still detected after 40 days in clay- and sand-rich sediments. Field surveys revealed that the cry1Ab gene from transgenic corn and from naturally occurring Bt was more abundant in the sediment than in the surface water. The cry1Ab transgene was detected as far away as the Richelieu and St. Lawrence rivers (82 km downstream from the corn cultivation plot), suggesting that there were multiple sources of this gene and/or that it undergoes transport by the water column. Sediment-associated cry1Ab gene from Bt corn tended to decrease with distance from the Bt cornfield. Sediment concentrations of the cry1Ab gene were significantly correlated with those of the cry1Ab gene in surface water ðR ¼ 0:83; P ¼ 0:04Þ. The data indicate that DNA from Bt corn and Bt were persistent in aquatic environments and were detected in rivers draining farming areas.

http://www.bioscienceresource.org/news/article.php?id=35

The Bioscience Resource Project News Service

Bee learning behaviour affected by consumption of Bt Cry1Ab toxin

Concerns over bees, especially the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) have rarely been higher. Although there are few hard data there is a general consensus that both solitary and social bee populations are declining and that recently the still-mysterious colony collapse disorder (CCD) has dramatically worsened this situation. No definitive cause for CCD has yet been established but there is widespread agreement that CCD is caused by more than one factor (Calderone, 2008 ; Oldroyd, 2007).

One of the speculated contributors to this decline is transgenic crops and specifically those containing Bt proteins since these are insect-active toxins to which bees are exposed through various routes. In particular, bee larvae are exposed since they consume large quantities of pollen which they sometimes source from maize plants (Sabugosa-Madeira et al. 2007). Up to now however there has been no specific evidence that any Bt toxin has negative effects on bees, but equally such studies have been rare. Particularly lacking are studies on sub-lethal effects of Bt toxins on bees.

In the view of many, there is clear evidence from laboratory settings that Bt toxins can affect non-target organisms. Usually, but not always, affected organisms are closely related to intended targets (reviewed in Lovei and Arpaia 2005 and Hilbeck and Schmidt 2006). Typically, exposure is through the consumption of plant parts such as pollen or plant debris or through Bt ingested by their predatory food choices. Nevertheless, due to significant data gaps, the real-world consequences of Bt transgenics remains unclear.

Thus the lepidopteran-active Cry1Ab is, not unexpectedly, toxic to some butterflies (e.g. Losey et al 1999 and Lang and Vojtech 2006) while more distantly-related organisms affected by Cry1Ab are ladybird larvae, caddisflies and Daphnia Magna (Rosi-Marshall et al 2007; Bøhn et al 2008; Schmidt et al 2008). Other variants of Bt, such as Cry3Bb, are considered coleopteran-active but have been the subject of less research. Nevertheless, these may also affect non-target coleopterans such as ladybird larvae as well as more distantly related organisms such as lacewings (Hilbeck and Schmidt 2006; Schmidt et al 2008).

A recent paper adds to the non-target story by demonstrating that honey bees fed on the active form of purified Cry1Ab protein can be affected in the learning responses necessary to associate nectar sources with odourants (Ramirez-Romero et al 2008). This learning response is important in bee foraging behaviour and it has attracted the attention of CCD researchers since it is known to be inhibited by the insecticide imidacloprid (e.g. Decourtye et al 2004). In this latest study bees consuming artificial nectar containing 5000ppb of Cry1Ab continued to respond positively to a learned odour even in the absence of a food reward, while normal bee behaviour is to become discouraged and seek more abundant food sources.

Left unstudied by the authors however was the likely mode of action of this behavioural effect. This is of considerable interest since the principal means of Bt lethality, which is thought to be a receptor-mediated effect on gut integrity, fails to explain the observed behavioural modification. The new finding is therefore particularly interesting since it lends weight to a previous suggestion that Bt toxins may have other, non-lethal effects which become apparent only when the normal (i.e. lethal) effect is absent (Hilbeck and Schmidt 2006; Schmidt et al. 2008). If there were to be multiple modes of Bt action then many more non-target organisms would likely be at risk from Bt transgenics.

"Potential" "may". Those words indicate that it might be detrimental. This article doesn't say that it has negative impacts. I'm missing the part where it says there are going to be harmful effects from this. But I'm the idiot.

I see what you mean Mr.Mxy....she really doesn't listen to reason. She reads articles like this and misinterprets them making them sound like its going to kill us all.

reading this makes me wonder what is going on in the local bays and estuaries around here from all the farm land that is growing GMO Corn and Sorghum.

For the idiots:

"In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Cary Institute aquatic ecologist Dr. Emma Rosi-Marshall and colleagues report that streams throughout the Midwestern Corn Belt are receiving insecticidal proteins that originate from adjacent genetically modified crops. The protein enters streams through runoff and when corn leaves, stalks, and plant parts are washed into stream channels."

snip

"Rosi-Marshall concludes, "The tight linkage between corn fields and streams warrants further research into how corn byproducts, including Cr1Ab insecticidal proteins, potentially impact non-target ecosystems, such as streams and wetlands." These corn byproducts may alter the health of freshwaters."
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INSECTICIDAL. May alter the health of freshwaters.

Learn to read and understand.

I see what you mean Mr.Mxy....she really doesn't listen to reason. She reads articles like this and misinterprets them making them sound like its going to kill us all.

Highrise hermeticaly sealed farming no pesticides nessisary ...think about it learn about it ....

I thought that was one of their big sales pitches on GMO's that they wouldn't need insecticides!

Monsantos GMOs are spreading fast. Soon they will own EVERYTHING.

I just sent this link and message to the White House:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-09/cioe-ifg092410.php

How many more tests will be satisfactory before GMOS and the toxins in them have proper regulations and labels in order to protect the health of humans, other species and our land and waterways? Why does Monsanto have such a hold over our lives? These organisms are not safe for our environment or our health.
___________

Please feel free to join me.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

What more will be needed to convince our government that a moratorium on this toxic "food" needs to be instituted for the health and safety of our waterways, land, and ourselves? Not to mention that once it enters streams and rivers fish can injest it and we then eat the fish without knowing what effects it has had on aquatic environments or if it has an effect on humans in large doses considering that just about everything we eat has this BT corn in it. This also goes all the way up the food chain. You don't even have to eat GMOs to get the toxin into your system. And please, don't try to convince me that Monsanto even gave a **&**& to consider this possibility. This is NOT substantial equivalence.