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GM crops found causing cancer in rats (bbc.co.uk)
4 points by rugger on Sept 19, 2012 | hide | past | favorite | 1 comment


After reviewing the study [1] and some informative comments [2][3], I'm putting this into the urgently interesting but not yet substantive bucket. Serious statistical problems with having only 20 control rats out of 200 in a line that has not only a strong tendency to develop tumours but a high variance in expressing that tendency make the results, which were spread across ten micro-studies, difficult to interpret.

I agree, however, with Dr. Antoniou's (Kings College, London) statement [3]: "At the very least, what this study highlights is: firstly, the need to test all GM crops in two-year, lifelong studies; and, secondly, when looking at testing the toxicity of herbicides/pesticides, we need to test the full agricultural formulation and not just the active ingredient."

[1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691512... [2] http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5db0b344-024b-11e2-b41f-00144... [3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19654825

P.S. Article's title is "French GM-fed rat study triggers furore" and not "GM crops found causing cancer in rats" as presented.




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