Many studies on the dangers of genetically modified organisms have been unreliable
The most sensational scientific articles proving the harm from the use of genetically modified organisms contain errors that cast doubt on the accuracy of the conclusions. This opinion was expressed by specialists from the Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In the work of Russian researchers, published in the journal Critical Reviews in Biology, it is reported that in the scientific works of critics of GMOs one can find a number of shortcomings in the statistical assessment of data.
In particular, in a study published in 1999 in the journal Lancet, British scientists have chosen a method, the error in which can reach 23 percent. The authors of the study found a difference between the length of the jejunum in mice that ate genetically modified and "regular" potatoes. However, the results obtained have a high chance of being a coincidence, especially if you consider that other organs that were monitored did not undergo any statistically significant changes due to the use of genetically modified foods.
In six other studies, which at different times served as confirmation of the dangers of GMO products and even the basis for restrictions on their use, similar, but even larger-scale errors were found, according to experts from Russia. At the same time, they emphasize that the conclusions of most of the more than one and a half thousand studies on GMOs conducted over ten years indicate that genetically modified organisms are harmless.
For example, researchers from the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences from 2001 to 2011 conducted a series of experiments in which more than three and a half thousand laboratory rats took part. The results of all these studies testified in favor of the fact that GMO products pose no danger to the body.
Dmitry Erusalimsky