转基因食品到底有没有害？听听美国医生怎么说
蒋高明
笔者最近发表或转载了对转基因作物商业化种植的多篇质疑文章，受到大部分网友的热烈响应，也遭到少数转基因拥护者的人身攻击。鲁迅说过，谩骂不是战斗。要有利于问题澄清，需要拿出理智的数据来，或多写一些客观公正的科普文章，让公众有判断的能力。
任何东西有利也有害，老祖宗造“利害”这个词汇的时候，利在前，害就在其后的。支持转基因的人只说好处不说害处是不科学的；反对转基因者只说害处不说好处也同样不是科学的态度。现在的问题是，支持转基因主粮商业化的专家，只字不提它的负面作用，对其问题是笔者学宏观生物学即生态学的人提出来的，可能有些观点是说不到点子上去的，还需学众多专家不断完善补充。任何事情都是有矛盾的，有正就有反，有天就有地，有男就有女，有好处也有害处，有转基因就有反转基因。而转基因的逻辑就是与生态的逻辑相反的，因此，生态学家来质疑就是十分正常的事情；同样的道理，生物技术专家来质疑生态学家的做法也是正常的。
当然，我们渴望转基因的人自己指出转基因主粮商业化种植的缺点来。这个缺点与优点比较一下，还值不值得国家推广？而不能为了推广，有意不说该技术的问题。关于转基因作物的一些潜在风险，笔者从欧美发达国家听到的声音最多，几乎没有中国科学的家的证据，这似乎是不正常的。在转基因主粮问题上，毕竟中国是第一个吃螃蟹的，多一些争议可能是好的。真理是不怕辩论的。
其中一个双方都不能说清楚的问题是，转基因食物对人体到底有没有影响？是不是真的像有些专家说的那样“虫子不能吃，人可以放心吃”；普通人需要“吃转基因稻米657年”才可能吃出问题来呢？让我们来听听美国医生怎么说。
当然，笔者但愿这篇文章是美国人为了阻碍中国转基因事业发展，是别有用心的伪造出来的。中国科学家一向迷信美国的，如果这是真的，需要有个说法，需要中国的医学界来判断，文中的观点是不是在忽悠人？
这篇文章来自网络http://www.rense.com/general86/doct.htm，本博转的是中文译稿。
医生警告：避开转基因食品
作者杰弗里·史密斯 Jeffrey M. Smith
美国科学院环境医学指出：“转基因食品没有得到很好的测试，并造成严重的健康风险。转基因食品和健康的不利影响之间不是了无关系的，实则存在因果的关系。”
今年5月，美国科学与环境医学会（AAEM）呼吁“可能的话，医生要教育病人，医疗界，和市民大众，避免转基因（基因改造）食品，及提供有关转基因食品和健康风险的教育材料。”他们呼吁暂停食用转基因食品，作一个长期的独立研究和作食物标签。
AAEM的立场文件中指出，“一些用动物的研究指出食用转基因食品有严重健康的风险。”包括不育，免疫问题，加速老化，胰岛素的调节，和主要脏腑及胃肠系统的改变。他们得出结论：“转基因食品和健康的不利影响之间不是了无关系的，实则存在着因果的关系。”以科学公认的标准性定义： “转基因食品和疾病两者之间的紧密联系和一致性，在多次动物研究中已被证实。”
越来越多的医生已经处方无转基因食物（给病人）。密歇根州的内科专家的艾米院长院士，又是董事会成员的AAEM，说：“我强烈建议病人完全食用非转基因食品。”俄亥俄州过敏症专家约翰博伊斯博士说：“我过去一直测试大豆引起的过敏，但现在（测试）的是转基因大豆，这种大豆是非常危险的，我告诉人们不要吃它。”
身为AAEM主席的珍妮阿姆斯朗博士，说：“医生可能在病人身上看到这些影响，但需要知道如何提出正确的问题。”世界著名生物学家普什帕米巴尔加更进一步，他在审查了600多个科学期刊，他得出结论认为：转基因生物（GMOs）是令至美国人健康急剧恶化的一大因素。
索尔克研究所的生物学家戴维舒伯特警告说，“在人口中，儿童是最有可能受到毒素和其它与转基因食品有关的饮食问题所伤害到。”。他说，“在没有足够的研究下，孩子们就成了“作为实验的动物。”
真正用转基因食物喂饲实验中的动物的经历，实在是叫人害怕的。当用基因大豆喂雌性大鼠，它们大多数的婴儿在三个星期内死亡，与用天然大豆喂食的大鼠作比较的话，它的死亡率就有10％的高。转基因食物喂养的婴儿亦较细小，后来怀孕也有问题出现。
当雄性老鼠喂食转基因大豆后，其睾丸实际上改变了颜色：从粉红色的正常色转至深蓝色。老鼠喂食转基因大豆就已经改变了年轻的精子。甚至是用转基因食物喂养的母鼠体内的胚胎的基因（DNA）亦有重大的改变。奥地利政府用老鼠喂食转基因玉米的研究，也发现它们所产的下一代不但数量少，而且体形也小于正常的幼鼠。
生殖问题也困扰着牲畜。印度在哈里亚纳邦的调查表明，大多数吃了转基因棉籽的水牛有并发症，如早产，流产，不育，并子宫脱垂。许多小牛死亡。在美国，大约24个农民报告说成千上万只猪吃了转基因玉米品种后成了不能生殖的，一些服用后出现假怀孕，有的生下袋水。奶牛和公牛进食了相同的玉米也成为不育。
为产生毒素而设计的食物
在每个细胞中，转基因玉米和棉花已被策划设计生产出自己内置的农药。当虫咬（转基因）植物时，（植物）内里的毒会令它的胃裂开而至死。生物技术公司声称，被称为Bt（这是从土壤细菌叫苏云金芽孢杆菌生的）的农药，有一个安全使用的历史，因为有机农民和其它农民也使用Bt细菌喷雾控制自然害虫。然而，由转基因植物被设计出来的Bt毒素，比在自然喷雾中的Bt毒素，浓度是要大几千倍，有过敏原体的特性，不像喷雾，不能从植物中洗除掉。
此外，研究证实，即使是毒性较低的天然细菌喷雾也是有害的。当为了杀死在西北太平洋地区上空的『吉普赛飞蛾』，而用飞机散播喷雾时，约有500人报导说出现过敏或类似流感的症状，有些人更要入急诊室。在印度的各地农场上的工人，在处理Bt棉花上，现在出现了完全相同的症状。 2008年，根据医疗记录，『星期日印度』报告，说“由BT棉的种植而导至的瘙痒受害者，正大量地增加。”
美国科学与环境医学指出：“多项动物研究显示出重大的免疫调节失调，”包括细胞激素（cytokines）的增加，它们又与哮喘，过敏和发炎有关，都在美国节节上升。
根据转基因食品安全专家阿帕德普兹泰博士，在所有的研究中，转基因动物的免疫状况改变，是“一贯的特点。”即使『孟山都』自己的研究也表明：Bt玉米喂养的大鼠的免疫系统有着显著的改变。由意大利政府于2008年11月所作的研究，亦发现老鼠的免疫对Bt玉米有反应。
转基因大豆和玉米每一个包含两个具有过敏性质的新蛋白质，转基因大豆有高达7倍以上的胰蛋白酶抑制剂，是已知大豆过敏原。皮肤点刺试验表明有些人对转基因有反应，而对非转基因大豆没有反应。转基因大豆被首次进入英国后不久，大豆过敏急升了50％。也许美国流行着食物过敏和哮喘是一种遗传基因操纵的结果。
在印度，一直以来，当棉花收获后，动物采食其植物。但是，当有牧羊人让其羊群吃转基因棉花植株（内有Bt），数以千计的羊死亡。验尸结果显示肠和肝脏有过严重的刺激和黑色像补丁的小块（以及扩大了的胆管）。调查人员说，初步证据显示出“有力地表明，羊的死亡率是由于毒素，极可能是转Bt毒素（所造成）。”在德干发展协会的一个小的后续跟进的喂养试验行动中，所有喂过Bt转基棉植物的羊30天内全部死亡，而那些吃天然棉花植物的羊保持健康。
在安得拉邦的一个小村庄里，那里的水牛吃棉花植物8年没有发生任何事件。在2008年1月3日，水牛首次吃了含有Bt棉花的植物后，所有13只水牛第二天便生病了，跟着3天内全部死亡。 Bt玉米也牵涉在德国母牛的死亡，和菲律宾的马，水牛，和鸡的死亡中。
在实验室研究中，很多鸡喂了『自由链接』（Liberty Link）玉米死亡，20个中有7只喂食转基因西红柿的大鼠发展出胃出血，另外40只中有 7只两个星期内死亡。根据法国毒物学家G.E.Seralini，『孟山都』自已的研究亦证明，Bt玉米喂养的大鼠，其主要内脏有中毒的现象。
最令人忧心的调查结果：所有转基因生物残留在内我们体内
唯一已公布的入体喂食转基因的研究显示出转基因食物中可能是最危险的问题。插入到转基因大豆里的基因转移到生活在我们肠道的细菌的DNA里面去，并继续发挥作用。这意味着吃了之后，我们虽然不吃转基因食物，在我们体内仍然不断产生有潜在之害的基因蛋白质。说透彻一点，吃Bt玉米所造成的玉米片，会把我们的肠道细菌转变成生活着的农药制造厂，可能直至我们死为止。
当在美国的各地的医疗会议宣告基因转移的证据时，医生们往往响应他们的病人在过去十年中，有着大幅增加的胃肠道的问题。转基因食品可能正在北美人民的肚子中殖民了。
科学家，即使在90年代初，已在美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）提出对所有这些问题的警告。根据从一起诉讼所公布的文件，该机构的科学共识是：转基因食品是有内在的危险，并可能制造出难以检测的过敏，毒药，基因转移到肠道菌群，新的疾病和营养问题。他们敦促他们的上司，要求做严格的长期测试。但是，白宫下令该机构要促进生物技术，药物管理局作出反应，招募了迈克尔泰勒，孟山都的前律师，来领导形成转基因的政策。这一政策，也就是在今天实行的政策，否认了科学家关注上的共知（即上面那些共知点），并宣布，任何转基因生物安全性的研究都是不需要的，食品的安全与否全由孟山都和其它生物技术公司来决定。泰勒先生后来成为孟山都的副总裁。
美国科学与环境医学指出：“转基因食品没有得到正确的测试”和“造成严重的健康风险。”没有一个人类的临床转基因生物试验的报告被出版过。在2007年出版的科学文献在“潜在的毒性作用/转基因植物的健康风险”的评论文献中透露“实验的数据是非常的不足够。”作者在评论中用询问作结论：“有哪里的科学证据去证明，正如生物技术公司自己所假设的一样：转基因植物/食物的毒性是安全的呢？”
加拿大著名的遗传学家戴维铃木就此事作回应：“实验根本就没有做，我们现在已成为小白鼠。”他更补充说，“任何人说，噢，我们知道这是绝对安全的。我会说：要么就是令人难以置信的愚蠢，或故意地在说谎。”
舒伯特博士指出，“如果有问题，我们可能永远不会知道，因为事情的源头不可能追查得到，许多疾病是需要很长的时间才发展起来的。”如果转基因生物（GMOs）引起急性的症状而带有一个独特的签名，那么也许我们会有机会追查得到原因。
例子就如发生在美国80年代后期的一场流行性疾病。疾病迅速展开，致命的，造成了一个在血液中独特的可衡量的变化，但还仍花了四年多的时间，去确定是否发生疫情。到那时，它已杀了大约100个美国人，造成5,000-10,000人生病、或成为终身的残疾。这场流行性疾病是由基因工程制造的，是补充食品品牌名为L -色氨酸所引起的。
如果其它基因改造食物是引至自闭症，肥胖症，糖尿病，哮喘，癌症，心脏病，过敏，生殖问题的增加，或任何其它常见而且现正困扰美国人健康的问题，我们可能永远不会知道。事实上，由于转基因生物的喂养有这样多种多样的问题，易感染的人群会作出对转基因食品的多种病症。因此，清楚了，在1996年第一次大规模引进转基因作物的9年后，患有3个或以上的慢性疾病的人，几乎增加了一倍，从7％至13％。
为了帮助确定是否转基因生物造成危害，AAEM要求他们的“成员，医学界和独立的科学界，收集有关转基因食品的食用和对健康的影响的资料个案，开始调查转基因食品对人类健康所化演的角色和安全的流行病学的研究，和进行确定转基因食品对人体健康影响的安全方法。“
市民可以采纳医生的建议，避开转基因食品，而不必等待出来的结果。人们可远离任何大豆或玉米与衍生物，棉籽和油菜籽油，糖的转基因甜菜，除非它说：『有机』或“非转基因。”
就算一小部分人选择了非转基因品牌，食品工业可能会如他们响应欧洲时一样，就是移除所有的基因改造成分。因此，美国科学与环境医学的非转基因处方，对于美国的食品供应，可能是一个分水岭。
杰弗里·史密斯，是Institute for Responsible Technology的行政总裁，是对转基因生物的健康危险的领先的发言人。他的第一本书，种子的欺骗，是说及这领域世界上最畅销的一本书。他的第二本，遗传轮盘：记录的健康风险的转基因食品，确定了65种转基因生物的风险，并显示政府如何肤浅的批准和没有能力找到他们。他邀请生物技术产业对每一个风险作出书面证据的答复，但正确预测他们会拒绝接受，因为他们没有数据显示，其产品是安全的。
本文引用地址：http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=294175
附英文原文：
Doctors Warn Avoid Genetically Modified Food
By Jeffrey M. Smith
7-22-9
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine states,"Genetically Modified foods have not been properly tested and pose a serious health risk. There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation."
Last May the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called on "Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks." They called for a moratorium on GM foods, long-term independent studies, and labeling.
AAEM"s position paper stated, "Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food," including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. They conclude, "There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation," as defined by recognized scientific criteria. "The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies."
More and more doctors are already prescribing GM-free diets. Dr. Amy Dean, a Michigan internal medicine specialist, and board member of AAEM says, "I strongly recommend patients eat strictly non-genetically modified foods." Ohio allergist Dr. John Boyles says "I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people never to eat it."
Dr. Jennifer Armstrong, President of AAEM, says, "Physicians are probably seeing the effects in their patients, but need to know how to ask the right questions." World renowned biologist Pushpa M. Bhargava goes one step further. After reviewing more than 600 scientific journals, he concludes that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a major contributor to the sharply deteriorating health of Americans.
Among the population, biologist David Schubert of the Salk Institute warns that "children are the most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems" related to GM foods. He says without adequate studies, the children become "the experimental animals."
The experience of actual GM-fed experimental animals is scary. When GM soy was fed to female rats, most of their babies died within three weeks-compared to a 10% death rate among the control group fed natural soy. The GM-fed babies were also smaller, and later had problems getting pregnant.
When male rats were fed GM soy, their testicles actually changed color-from the normal pink to dark blue. Mice fed GM soy had altered young sperm. Even the embryos of GM fed parent mice had significant changes in their DNA. Mice fed GM corn in an Austrian government study had fewer babies, which were also smaller than normal.
Reproductive problems also plague livestock. Investi-gations in the state of Haryana, India revealed that most buffalo that ate GM cottonseed had complications such as premature deliveries, abortions, infertility, and prolapsed uteruses. Many calves died. In the US, about two dozen farmers reported thousands of pigs became sterile after consuming certain GM corn varieties. Some had false pregnancies; others gave birth to bags of water. Cows and bulls also became infertile when fed the same corn.
Food Designed to Produce Toxins
GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce their own built-in pesticide in every cell. When bugs bite the plant, the poison splits open their stomach and kills them. Biotech companies claim that the pesticide, called Bt (produced from soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis) has a history of safe use, since organic farmers and others use Bt bacteria spray for natural insect control.
The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is thousands of times more concentrated than natural Bt spray, is designed to be more toxic, has properties of an allergen, and unlike the spray, cannot be washed off the plant.
Moreover, studies confirm that even the less toxic natural bacterial spray is harmful. When dispersed by plane to kill gypsy moths in the Pacific Northwest, about 500 people reported allergy or flu-like symptoms. Some had to go to the emergency room. The exact same symptoms are now being reported by farm workers throughout India who have handled Bt cotton. In 2008, based on medical records, the Sunday India reported, "Victims of itching have increased massively this year related to BT cotton farming."
American Academy of Environmental Medicine states, "Multiple animal studies show significant immune dysregulation," in-cluding increase in cytokines, which are "associated with asthma, allergy, and inflammation"-all on the rise in the US.
According to GM food safety expert Dr. Arpad Pusztai, changes in the immune status of GM animals are "a consistent feature of all the studies." Even Monsanto"s own research showed significant immune system changes in rats fed Bt corn. A November 2008 study by the Italian government also found that mice have an immune reaction to Bt corn.
GM soy and corn each contain two new proteins with allergenic properties, GM soy has up to seven times more trypsin inhibitor-a known soy allergen-and skin prick tests show some people react to GM, but not to non-GM soy. Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50%. Perhaps the US epidemic of food allergies and asthma is a casualty of genetic manipulation.
In India, animals graze on cotton plants after harvest. But when shepherds let sheep graze on Bt cotton plants, thousands died. Post mortems showed severe irritation and black patches in both intestines and liver (as well as enlarged bile ducts). Investigators said preliminary evidence "strongly suggests that the sheep mortality was due to a toxin most probably Bt-toxin." In a small follow-up feeding study by the Deccan Development Society, all sheep fed Bt cotton plants died within 30 days; those that grazed on natural cotton plants remained healthy.
In a small village in Andhra Pradesh, buffalo grazed on cotton plants for eight years without incident. On January 3rd, 2008, the buffalo grazed on Bt cotton plants for the first time. All 13 were sick the next day; all died within 3 days. Bt corn was also implicated in the deaths of cows in Germany, and horses, water buffaloes, and chickens in the Philippines.
In lab studies, twice the number of chickens fed Liberty Link corn died; 7 of 20 rats fed a GM tomato developed bleeding stomachs; another 7 of 40 died within two weeks. Monsanto"s own study showed evidence of poisoning in major organs of rats fed Bt corn, according to top French toxicologist G. E. Seralini.
Worst Finding of All-GMOs Remain Inside Us
The only published human feeding study revealed what may be the most dangerous problem from GM foods. The gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of bacteria living inside our intestines and continues to function. This means that long after we stop eating GMOs, we may still have potentially harmful GM proteins produced continuously inside of us. Put more plainly, eating a corn chip produced from Bt corn might transform our intestinal bacteria into living pesticide factories, possibly for the rest of our lives.
When evidence of gene transfer is reported at medical conferences around the US, doctors often respond by citing the huge increase of gastrointestinal problems among their patients over the last decade. GM foods might be colonizing the gut flora of North Americans.
Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had warned about all these problems even in the early 1990s. According to documents released from a lawsuit, the scientific consensus at the agency was that GM foods were inherently dangerous, and might create hard-to-detect allergies, poisons, gene transfer to gut bacteria, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They urged their superiors to require rigorous long-term tests. But the White House had ordered the agency to promote biotechnology and the FDA responded by recruiting Michael Taylor, Monsanto"s former attorney, to head up the formation of GMO policy. That policy, which is in effect today, denies knowledge of scientists" concerns and declares that no safety studies on GMOs are required. It is up to Monsanto and the other biotech companies to determine if their foods are safe. Mr. Taylor later became Monsanto"s vice president.
American Academy of Environmental Medicine states, "GM foods have not been properly tested" and "pose a serious health risk." Not a single human clinical trial on GMOs has been published. A 2007 review of published scientific literature on the "potential toxic effects/health risks of GM plants" revealed "that experimental data are very scarce." The author concludes his review by asking, "Where is the scientific evidence showing that GM plants/food are toxicologically safe, as assumed by the biotechnology companies?"
Famed Canadian geneticist David Suzuki answers, "The experiments simply haven"t been done and we now have become the guinea pigs." He adds, "Anyone that says, "Oh, we know that this is perfectly safe," I say is either unbelievably stupid or deliberately lying."
Dr. Schubert points out, "If there are problems, we will probably never know because the cause will not be traceable and many diseases take a very long time to develop." If GMOs happen to cause immediate and acute symptoms with a unique signature, perhaps then we might have a chance to trace the cause.
This is precisely what happened during a US epidemic in the late 1980s. The disease was fast acting, deadly, and caused a unique measurable change in the blood-but it still took more than four years to identify that an epidemic was even occurring. By then it had killed about 100 Americans and caused 5,000-10,000 people to fall sick or become permanently disabled. It was caused by a genetically engineered brand of a food supplement called L-tryptophan.
If other GM foods are contributing to the rise of autism, obesity, diabetes, asthma, cancer, heart disease, allergies, reproductive problems, or any other common health problem now plaguing Americans, we may never know. In fact, since animals fed GMOs had such a wide variety of problems, susceptible people may react to GM food with multiple symptoms. It is therefore telling that in the first nine years after the large scale introduction of GM crops in 1996, the incidence of people with three or more chronic diseases nearly doubled, from 7% to 13%.
To help identify if GMOs are causing harm, the AAEM asks their "members, the medical community, and the independent scientific community to gather case studies potentially related to GM food consumption and health effects, begin epidemiological research to investigate the role of GM foods on human health, and conduct safe methods of determining the effect of GM foods on human health."
Citizens need not wait for the results before taking the doctors advice to avoid GM foods. People can stay away from anything with soy or corn derivatives, cottonseed and canola oil, and sugar from GM sugar beets-unless it says organic or "non-GMO."
If even a small percentage of people choose non-GMO brands, the food industry will likely respond as they did in Europe-by removing all GM ingredients. Thus, American Academy of Environmental Medicine"s non-GMO prescription may be a watershed for the US food supply.
Jeffrey M. Smith, Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, is the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of GMOs. His first book, Seeds of Deception is the world"s bestselling book on the subject. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, identifies 65 risks of GMOs and demonstrates how superficial government approvals are not competent to find most of them. He invited the biotech industry to respond in writing with evidence to counter each risk, but correctly predicted that they would refuse, since they don"t have the data to show that their products are safe. Spilling the Beans, the institute"s monthly column, is available at <http://www.reliabletechnology.org>www.reliabletechnology.org. The website also offers eater-friendly tips for avoiding GMOs at home and in restaurants. Contact American Academy of Environmental Medicine at (734) 213-4901;environmentalmed@yahoo.com; <http://www.aaemonline.org>www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html.
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