Myles Power video: Scientific deception or ignorance? How the anti-GMO machine works

powerm
Image courtesy of Myles Power

Many skeptics of genetically engineered food safety have cited several academic studies to back their cause. But how well do the studies hold up? One of the most well-publicized and commonly cited study of rats fed with GE corn and Roundup herbicide was heavily criticized by the scientific community, then retracted, and more recently, republished without further peer review only to receive more criticism.

In a recent video, English biochemist and science communicator Myles Power reviews the findings of another study at the request of an anti-GMO blogger on his website. Power oversees the educational YouTube channel powerm1985 and is one of the founding members of the podcast The League of Nerds.

Why don’t you analyze the newest studies Myles, why don’t you analyze the studies that sparked entire nations to ban GMOs? 80+ countries have already done so.

The challenge: Hematotoxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis as Spore-crystal Strains Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac or Cry2Aa in Swiss Albino Mice, published by a team of researchers from the University of Brasilia, Brazil, in the Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Disease.

The Organic Consumers Association and Food Democracy Now claimed that the study “links GMO food to leukemia.” Sayer Ji wrote:

Now, a new study published in the Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Diseases indicates that the biopesticides engineered into GM crops known as Bacillus Thuringensis (Bt) or Cry-toxins, may also contribute to blood abnormalities from anemia to hematological malignancies (blood cancers) such as leukemia.

According to Power, that was not the case. In his and others’ analyses of the article, the researchers studied the effect of the whole bacteria (the same thing used in organic Bt pesticide sprays) when fed to mice, instead of the toxins that the Bt bacteria produce or the Bt GM crops themselves. The Bt GM crops produce only the toxins, not the entire bacteria. Watch the video below to hear what Power has to say:

Power says that he “was getting extremely excited” to examine how the paper was showing links between eating GE foods and leukemia:

I printed it out, and I read it, and you can imagine my surprise to find out that actually it’s not about GMO food at all. It’s about bacteria that produce Bt delta endotoxins. Has anyone who’s pushing this even read it? I mean, I can stop this video right now, this paper isn’t about GMOs, it’s about the bacteria that produce these toxins.

But Power doesn’t stop, and goes on to analyze the study, pointing out the lack of a valid control group in the experiment and examining the credibility of the journal that published the study:

They only had mice that were fed on water, but that’s not an appropriate blank to show that this family of delta toxins was toxic. If you wanted an appropriate blank, you would feed a mouse a bacteria spore crystal that was incapable of producing this toxin. …

Let’s not beat around the bush here: this journal is fake. It’s a fake journal. Why people want to publish in a fake journal, I don’t know, because it’s as credible as publishing this research on the back of a pub toilet.

And in an ironic twist, Power concludes that the study, if it had been valid, would be a “massive problem for the organic farming community.” He explains:

57% of American farmers, organic farmers, use Bt delta endotoxins as a pesticide. Yeah, you heard that correctly, it’s used as an organic pesticide because it’s seen as coming from nature so it’s totally fine. Now this is where this crazy bit is, because the people on these anti-GMO websites are pushing research that is actually going against what they believe in, what they’re trying to promote. Organic farming is the way forward, but they’re promoting papers that say ‘don’t eat organic food because it may be cultivated using a toxin that may be harmful to you.’

It’s incredibly lazy and that’s why I don’t think anyone who ever promotes crazy research like this has even bothered to read it.

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