Results of a study carried out by the National Association for Genetic Safety in cooperation with the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A. N. Severtsov Russian Academy of Sciences in the period 2008-2010, indicate a significant negative effect of feed containing GM components on the reproductive functions and health of laboratory animals.
As it became known, on April 14 in Moscow, the heads of the National Association for Genetic Safety (AGB) presented the results of an independent study to study the effect of feed containing components of genetically modified organisms on biological and physiological indicators of mammals.
“The animals were found to be lagging in development and growth, a violation of the sex ratio in broods with an increase in the proportion of females, a decrease in the number of pups in the litter, up to their complete absence in the second generation,” says the deputy director of IPEiE RAS, Ph. D. Alexey Surov. "There was also a significant decline in male reproductive performance."
The main result of the influence of GM food, which was discovered during the study, according to the president of the OAGS Alexander Baranov, was the absence of the third generation from animals from the experimental groups.
“The main conclusion of our study is the discovery of the fact of a biological prohibition on reproduction,” says Alexander Baranov. "Nature has put an end to the genetic prospects of animals that feed on GM food."
Ecologists point out that such experiments are being carried out too little. The latest independent studies of the effect of GMO consumption on animals, known to the whole world, were carried out at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2005), at the University of Caen (France, 2006).
The CIS Alliance "For Biosafety" supports the conduct of such research, believes that it is in the interests of global security, states should constantly allocate funds for such activities. “Unfortunately, this happens very rarely. At the same time, in Russia, budget money is spent not only on the creation of GMOs, but in fact "without looking back" are being financed fashionable areas, in particular, the introduction of new materials based on nanotechnology, and academic degrees are generously distributed. However, this issue is even less studied than the creation and functioning of GMOs,”- comments Victoria Kopeikina, secretary of the CIS Alliance“For Biosafety”.
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OAGS research note
The experimental study was carried out on a laboratory population of Campbell's hamsters (Phodopus campbelli), selected due to the fact that they have a rapid generation change, which makes it possible to track long-term consequences. Married pairs were formed from sexually mature individuals of the same age, which were divided into 4 groups of 5 reproductive pairs each. The first group (Soya-0) received vivary feed supplemented with pure non-transgenic soybeans. The second (GM-soy-1) and the third (GM-soy-2) formed groups differed in the quantitative content of genetically modified soybeans in the feed, which was added to the vivar feed. The control group received vivary food without any additives.
During the experiment, general biological and physiological indicators were recorded, such as the number, size, deaths, development and other parameters, the state of broods of different generations in each group. From the obtained broods, new reproductive pairs were formed to obtain subsequent generations, which were continued to be fed with the same food.
As a result of experimental studies of 3 generations of Campbell's hamster on general, physiological and pathological indicators, it was established:
- on general biological: found a lag in development and growth; violation of the sex ratio in broods with an increase in the proportion of females; a decrease in the number of pups in the litter, up to their complete absence in the second generation of animals of the GM-soy-1 and GM-soy-2 groups, in comparison with the control and pure soybeans. - on physiological and pathological anatomical: revealed violations of the development of the reproductive system in males and females in the groups GM-soy 1 and GM-soy 2 in comparison with the control individuals.