1. Roundup Ready ® corn: A case study Presentation by: Harlan Svoboda 25 November 2014 PBIO 5500

2. Roundup Ready ® corn Genetically modified to be resistant to Roundup ® herbicide Active ingredient: glyphosate Both developed by Monsanto Why? Widely used Photo: pixgood.com Photo: sunprairiehybrids.com

3. How is it made? 1)Select Roundup-resistant gene ( mepsps ) via B. thuringiensis 2)Transfect E. coli a.pDPG434 plasmid b.NotI R.E. site 3)Isolate mepsps gene 4)Incorporate into Zea mays a.Microparticle bombardment Photo: Monsanto, Sept. 2002

4. 2-year study 200 Sprague-Dawley rats 3 treatment groups Roundup Ready (GMO) Roundup only (R) GMO + R No hypotheses Large amounts of unpublished data Photo: onpasture.com

5. Key Results 1.All treated groups died 2-3 times more than controls, and more rapidly 2.Sex hormonal balance was modified 3.Pituitary glands were the second most disabled organ 4.Liver congestions and necrosis were 2.5-5.5 times higher

6. Key Results 5.Females produced large mammary tumors more often Source: Séralini et al. (2012)

7. Key Results 6.Kidney nephropathies were also generally 1.3-2.3 greater 7.76% of the altered parameters were kidney related Source: Séralini et al. (2012)

8. Conclusions Roundup Ready corn AND Roundup herbicide (glyphosate) are toxic to the rats Implications for human toxicity Photo: hateanddanger.wordpress.com

9. Critical of “the manner in which the experiments were planned, implemented, analyzed, interpreted and communicated.” Just glyphosate, or whole formulation contamination? Photo: ecowatch.com

10. Arjó et al. Criticisms Sprague-Dawley rats prone to tumors Implausibility of inserted gene to produce a de novo toxin Cells vs. organism Experimental sample size Photo: collective-evolution.com

11. Arjó et al. Criticisms RR corn fed to livestock No evidence of toxicity Statistical significance Kaplan-Meier stats. Requested a retraction

12. What do you think?