Index to Genetic Roulette dissection at Academics Review

Genetic Roulette is Jeffrey Smith’s second 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

From Academics Review

•