Genetic Roulette

Genetic Roulette is Jeffrey Smith’s second self-published book in which he makes unsubstantiated claims against biotechnology. In it, he details 65 separate claims that the technology causes harm in a variety of ways. On these pages each of those claims – addressed in the same eight “sections” that correspond directly with the book – are stacked up against peer-reviewed science.

• Section 1—Top 20 Urban Myths about GM Grops
  • 1.1—Pusztai’s Flawed Claims
  • 1.2—GM Tomatoes Proven Safe
  • 1.3—Bt Corn Statistics Don’t Lie
  • 1.4—These aren’t even GM Potatoes!
  • 1.5—Bt Cotton is Safer for workers than pesticides
  • 1.6—Bt Cotton is Safer for sheep than pesticides
  • 1.7—No evidence that pollen causes disease
  • 1.8—Mycotoxins cause reproductive failure
  • 1.9—A classic logical fallacy about Bt corn
  • 1.10—Rats fed Roundup Ready Soy – no effect on liver
  • 1.11— Rats fed Roundup Ready Soy —no effect on pancreas
  • 1.12— Rats fed Roundup Ready Soy —no effect on testicular cells
  • 1.13—Rabbits can eat Roundup Ready Soy too
  • 1.14—Ermakova’s findings defy logic
  • 1.15—Eating soybeans increases soybean-specific IgG antibodies
  • 1.16—Rats fed Roundup Ready Canola have healthy livers
  • 1.17—Fast growing birds can eat Liberty-Link Corn
  • 1.18—GM Peas Are discontinued
  • 1.19—Animals Graze Where There’s Feed
  • 1.20—High Doses of Tryptophan Cause EM
• Section 2—The Devil is in the DNA
  • 2.1—Any DNA Insertion can cause a mutation
  • 2.2—The use of tissue culture in plant breeding is not new
  • 2.3—GM Breeding is More Precise than other methods
  • 2.4—Promoters are precise tools
  • 2.5—Promoters can insert naturally into DNA
  • 2.6—Breeders produce genetically stable crops
  • 2.7—Mobile DNA drives evolution
  • 2.8—Food Contains Lots of Novel RNAs
  • 2.9—All Plant Breeding Causes DNA Scrambling
  • 2.10—Chemical Composition of crops is highly variable
  • 2.11—Biological variability is typical of crop varieties
• Section 3—Allergy Assessment Works As Planned
  • 3.1—GM soybeans are no more allergenic than conventional soybeans
  • 3.2—Today’s food allergy criteria are more accurate
  • 3.3—Bt crops are less likely to cause allergies or illness
  • 3.4—Whole Bt-producing bacteria are safe (that’s why organic growers use it!)
  • 3.5—Starlink corn was successfully recalled, caused no allergies
  • 3.6—Barnase in GM crops will not cause kidney damage
  • 3.7—High-lysine corn shown to be superior to conventional
  • 3.8—Cooking high-lysine corn will not produce toxins
  • 3.9—Disease-resistant crops do not cause human diseases
• Section 4—New proteins are carefully tested
  • 4.1—GM Proteins are tested
  • 4.2—Transgenes are safe, widespread in nature
  • 4.3—Genes rearrange naturally all the time with no ill effects
  • 4.4—Proteins are carefully characterized
  • 4.5—GM plants contain minute amounts of harmless new proteins
  • 4.6—Plant biology is better understood than Smith seems to think it is
• Section 5—DNA transfer is common and, widespread in nature
  • 5.1—DNA fragments in the gut are plentiful, but cause no problems
  • 5.2—GM does not affect gene movement into bacteria
  • 5.3—Transgenes are destroyed in the gut
  • 5.4—Transgenes are not incorporated into our bodies
  • 5.5—GM foods are irrelevant to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria
  • 5.6—The 35S promoter has been thoroughly researched
  • 5.7—Bt-genes don’t move from plants to bacteria
  • 5.8—DNA moves between microbes in the mouth and throat
  • 5.9—Plant genes don’t move to gut microbes
• Section 6—GM crops protects the food chain
  • 6.1—The safety of glufosinate herbicide tolerant crops
  • 6.2—New herbicide-tolerant crops help the environment, reduce agricultural impacts
  • 6.3—Many foods contain phytoestrogens
  • 6.4—GM crops have fewer toxins than non-GM crops
  • 6.5—Disease-resistant crops are safe for humans
• Section 7—GM food additives are known to be safe
  • 7.1—rBST-treated milk is the same as conventional milk
  • 7.2—rBST has nothing at all to do with twinning
  • 7.3—FDA-approved food additives are known to be safe
• Section 8—Better nutrition helps mothers and babies
  • 8.1—GM foods safe for mothers-to-be
  • 8.2—Mold-free food better for babies