Roundup linked to potentially deadly new pathogen?

[pscot]

Can anyone add to this?


http://farmandranchfreedom.org/gmo-miscarriages

One of the nation’s senior scientists alerted the federal government to a newly discovered organism that may have the potential to cause infertility and spontaneous abortion in farm animals, raising significant concerns about human health. Dr. Don Huber, professor emeritus at Purdue University, believes the appearance and prevalence of the unnamed organism may be related to the nation’s over reliance on the weed killer known as Roundup and/or to something about the genetically engineered Roundup-Ready crops

January 16, 2011

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

A team of senior plant and animal scientists have recently brought to my attention the discovery of an electron microscopic pathogen that appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings. Based on a review of the data, it is widespread, very serious, and is in much higher concentrations in Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans and corn—suggesting a link with the RR gene or more likely the presence of Roundup. This organism appears NEW to science!

This is highly sensitive information that could result in a collapse of US soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies. On the other hand, this new organism may already be responsible for significant harm (see below). My colleagues and I are therefore moving our investigation forward with speed and discretion, and seek assistance from the USDA and other entities to identify the pathogen’s source, prevalence, implications, and remedies.

......
Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of this organism in a wide variety of livestock that have experienced spontaneous abortions and infertility. Preliminary results from ongoing research have also been able to reproduce abortions in a clinical setting. The pathogen may explain the escalating frequency of infertility and spontaneous abortions over the past few years in US cattle, dairy, swine, and horse operations. These include recent reports of infertility rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous abortions in cattle as high as 45%.

.
......

I have studied plant pathogens for more than 50 years. We are now seeing an unprecedented trend of increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders. This pathogen may be instrumental to understanding and solving this problem. It deserves immediate attention with significant resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical agricultural infrastructure.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

1. If this is in fact legit, and not being overstated

It could be really bad news.

[shraby]

3. I've been rolling it around in my mind too. Bad news if true,

stickler is..is it true?

[shraby]

5. I just went to Scientific American..my choice for final words on

a subject. This article on Roundup itself is from the June 23, 2009 edition. What it says about roundup makes the new info on the roundup ready plants plausible in my mind.
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weed-whacking-herbicide-p>

Weed-Whacking Herbicide Proves Deadly to Human Cells
Used in gardens, farms, and parks around the world, the weed killer Roundup contains an ingredient that can suffocate human cells in a laboratory, researchers say

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Glyphosate, Roundup’s active ingredient, is the most widely used herbicide in the United States. About 100 million pounds are applied to U.S. farms and lawns every year, according to the EPA.

[Newest Reality]

2. Monsanto

"Innovating better sickness and more death worldwide!"

It's a good thing they put all those seeds in that huge vault ... hey, wait a minute!

[Rabblevox]

4. "A general collapse of our agricultural infrastructure". And this just days after...

Whole Foods and several other organic retailers drop their resistance to GMO crops. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/organic-elite-surrenders-to-monsanto/

On the bright side, a global food collapse will certainly take care of such pesky problems as over-population, environmental degradation, and those annoying damn poor people. :)

:sarcasm:

[Skip_In_Boulder]

9. Well I have been thinking for some time that the Republicans

which explains their infatuation with getting rid of health care, are intent on implementing a culling process of some kind at some point. Jan Brewer the Gov. in AZ already seems to be implementing her own version.

[howaboutme]

6. Monsanto has been good for America

:sarcasm:

Why does almost everything I hear or see about their products as well as the other big ag corps have negative connotations? We have become an experiment in progress, and it may be irreversible.

[Tumbulu]

7. This is exactly why gmo's should have been tested prior to mass release

How any scientist can say that the gmo's or the use of glyphosate on crops that will then be consumed is safe WITHOUT any testing of this hypothesis proves that they are not a scientist at all.

[Tunkamerica]

8. Spin: Monsanto creates life with RR soybeans!

[NickB79]

10. The pathogen is claimed to be a virus-sized fungus

Which would be unprecedented in microbiology, and possibly put the lab that found and isolated it in the running for a Nobel Prize.

Which scientific journals has this discovery been published in? Anywhere?

[GliderGuider]

13. The letter may be a hoax.

It doesn't read like a letter written by a scientist (in both terminology and tone), and there has been no publication - or even an indication of who did the research. Another blog that tried to investigate the story couldn't even contact Dr. Huber, so I have serious reservations about this. Anything that hits Monsanto and Roundup is fine with me, but this really looks to me like a disinformation campaign.

[bananas]

16. Update: Not a hoax

Your link has been updated:

Update: 2-25-2011 According to Reuters, Dr. Don Huber’s letter to Secretary Vilsack confirmed by R. Andre Bell, USDA spokesperson, and is currently under review. Office of the Executive Secretariat, M. Young, apologizes for providing incomplete, and thus inaccurate information to this reporter when initially contacted yesterday about the existence of such a letter.

[GliderGuider]

17. Yes, I saw that.

This confirms that they got the letter, but doesn't verify the provenance or contents. The language in the letter was odd enough for a scientist that I need further confirmation. I'd like to see a statement from Huber himself.

I'll keep an open but skeptical mind for now. All will be revealed in time, I guess.

[CRH]

20. I certainly hope Dr. Huber's letter is under USDA review, ...

From Dr. Huber's description of this pathogen's invasion into plant and animal food chains I am reminded of PCP's and the struggle to get them banned in the 1978. I can't imagine Monsanto rolling over any easier than the utility companies who fought tooth and nail in resistance to the EPA's actions.

The link in Post #4 is also unsettling when the Whole Foods and other organic elites caved in to opposition at this critical time. Contamination of organic strains of plants by GM crops is impossible to undo, so essentially tabling this issue while removing crop buffer requirements seems like a rather dogmatic and condescending insult, of Dr. Huber's concerns. I hope there is more behind the decision than political favor, because the stakes are irreversible.

[bananas]

11. Huber hand-delivered the letter to Vilsack on Jan 17, a full 10 days before USDA decision

http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/02/roundup-warning-letter-came-before-usda-decision/

Roundup Warning Letter Came Before USDA Decision

Wed, Feb 23, 2011

Pesticide Toxicity

News that Roundup May Be Causing Miscarriage Has Been Slow to Catch On

Just as Col. Don Huber’s letter that we revealed here seven days ago is becoming widely circulated on the Internet in various sites, a key piece of information has become available this evening.

Huber, a former Emeritus Professor at Purdue University and coordinator at the American Phytopathological Society that studies plant diseases and pathogens, confirmed to me that he hand delivered his letter to the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Jan. 17. This is significant because the USDA announced that it will now allow genetically modified “Roundup Ready” alfalfa on Jan. 27 — a full 10 days after seeing Huber’s warning that Roundup Ready crops may be causing spontaneous miscarriage in cattle and humans.

<snip>

After holding onto the letter for nearly two weeks at Huber’s request, and then going public with it last week, we have received dozens of phone calls from media outlets that typically cover the food supply, as well as emails and phone calls from concerned citizens. Huber’s warning, however, has been relatively slow to get picked up by mainstream media. The Huffington Post went with it today, but we forwarded the letter to the New York Times, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal, which have not yet opted to move on the story.

<snip>

[kristopher]

12. Thank you. I was looking for confirmation. nt

[pscot]

14. It's hard to imagine

who might want to suppress this information.

[CRH]

15. If it is a hoax, they picked the right scientist, ...

If it is a hoax it is a darn good one, as in the past hour I have read several different articles about Don Huber, and at least since pre 2006 he has been sounding the alarms about glyphosate and its effect of nutrient uptake deficiencies and plant dispositions toward fungal pathogens.

However this latest story is a little different. What Don Huber seems to be stating now, is he has found a previously unknown and very destructive pathogen, and it is supposed, that it results from the use of glyphosate. If this is true it has several ramifications, not the least of which puts the use of roundup and the marketed genetic seeds of several crops in the cross hairs of needed investigation, and possible eventual regulation or outright banning.

What is badly needed now is independent confirmation of this claim.

And to be fair, others in the past have contested his findings of lasting problems of nutrient uptake suggesting application methodology of fertilizer and roundup use, might be a significant factor.

It does not surprise me that the corporate media has been mum, until absolute corroborating studies confirm beyond a doubt, Huber's findings. Hell, look what they did with tobacco for thirty + years, perpetrating the lies.

It would have been informative to have been a fly on the wall in Vilsack's office during time between when the letter was delivered and the approval of the GM alfalfa and the buffer zone removal. Would have loved to have seen how much weight was given to input from lobbyists versus a decision on the merits of accepted science and existing studies. Of this we will have to wonder, if it was the true skepticism of a Cassandra, or rather, a corporate campaign payment.

Time will tell.

[Dover]

18. Even if it IS a hoax in the end, something like this can bury Monsanto.

They will lose trust (if they ever had it to begin with among their foreign clients).
Who will risk their precious food resources to Monsanto products?

Look how Toyota has suffered for their real and perceived electrical issues and the fears that arose even from their loyal clients (fears fanned, no doubt, by U.S. automakers wanting to sell their own energy efficient cars).

[GliderGuider]

19. 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd... n/t

[CRH]

21. A cautionary tale, of a far reaching decision, after culmination of forced global compliance.

This decision has potential far reaching consequence. GM seeds and Monsanto's crushing foot print on free trade agreements kicks aside other nations' redress.

The Obama administration has covered all negotiation positions with Big Ag cronies. The third and second world have little chance of resistance within existing trade agreements.

http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11531-more-monsanto-men-joining-obama-administration

~~ Excerpt ~~

1.Monsanto's man Beachy joining Obama administration
2.Obama's Chief Ag Negotiator Nominee is a CropLife America Lobbyist
3.Big Ag places a foot soldier at the U.S. Trade Office

NOTE: After Tom Vilsack and Michael Taylor where could the Obama administration go next? Michelle may have an organic garden but her husband's given Big Ag and Monsanto the keys to the door. Beachy (item 1) is a long time Monsanto collaborator who heads an institute which was established by Monsanto and academic partners with a $70-million pledge from the corporation. It's effectively a Monsanto front: http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Roger_Beachy

EXTRACT: Another critical ag-related trade issue is GMOs. Many nations have opted to ban GMOs on the precautionary principle. The few companies who dominate the GMO seed market—Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta, and BASF, all Croplife America - find that attitude abhorrent. Siddiqui can be expected to play hardball in using trade talks as a blunt instrument to knock those precautions down. (item 3)
--
~~ end excerpt ~~

And this too -

---
Obama's Chief Agricultural Negotiator Nominee a Pesticide Pusher
Huffington Post, September 23 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paula-crossfield/obamas-chief-agricultural_b_297243.html

~~ excerpt ~~

Why does it matter if the Vice President from the trade association representing pesticides and other agricultural chemicals takes over the Office of Agricultural Affairs at the USTR? Well, because that office, according to the USTR website "has overall responsibility for negotiations and policy coordination regarding agriculture." That means he would oversee the office dedicated to:

    Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) Development Agenda (Doha) negotiations on agriculture, operation of the WTO Committees on Agriculture and on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures, agricultural regulatory issues (e.g., biotechnology, cloning, BSE, nanotechnology, other bilateral SPS issues, and customs issues affecting agriculture), monitoring and enforcement of existing WTO and FTA commitments for agriculture (including SPS issues), and WTO accession negotiations on agriculture market access, domestic supports and export competition, and SPS matters.

The Chief Agricultural Negotiator is essentially a 'spokesperson' for American agriculture (perhaps the 'bad cop' to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's 'good cop') who is in charge of selling our agricultural products abroad -- products of a synthetic agriculture that is dependent on too many oil inputs, too much water and a stable climate to persist as the norm into the future. Here is an official job description for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator from the website Progressive Government:

~~ end excerpt ~~

This follows the rapacious 90's when the WTO at the behest of US Big AG had already kicked aside GMO concerns of trading partners around the globe, effecting every continent except the poles.

Warning PDF link -
www.publiceyeonscience.ch/.../the_wto_and_the_politics_of_gmo.doc

~~ excerpt ~~

Two years earlier at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rio, 175 UN governments signed a convention agreeing to develop an agreement on the safe handling and treatment of GMOs, a major vote of the world community to examine the health and economic impacts of GMO agriculture before it could be allowed in a country. The US Government of President George Bush Sr., aggressively opposed the CBD, arguing that a Biosafety Protocol was unnecessary. Under the CBD agreement, a country could prohibit GMO imports; require strict separation of GMO from ordinary grains and make the companies producing GMO’s legally liable for future proven damage.

The Biotech GMO industry, led by Monsanto, DuPont and Dow of the US, sabotaged this agreement, even though the US was not ‘officially’ present, as it had refused to sign the CBD Agreement. A group of six countries controlling the world Biotech GMO market—Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia Chile and USA-- forced a clause into the CBD text which would subordinate the Biosafety Protocol to the WTO. They argued that limiting trade based on ‘unproven’ biosafety concerns should be considered a ‘barrier to trade’ under WTO rules! In the end the US destroyed the Protocol by refusing to include soya and corn, 99% of all GMO products, making the Protocol worthless.

The WTO served as the weapon for the powerful coalition of Washington and the powerful private GMO giants, led by Monsanto. Earlier in 1992, Bush had taken the desire of Monsanto and the emerging US GM giant companies and ruled that GM organisms were ‘substantially equivalent’ to ordinary seeds for soya or corn and such. As ‘substantially equivalent,’ GM seeds required no special testing or health controls before being put on the market. This was crucial to the future of Monsanto and the GMO lobby.

~~ end excerpt ~~

So, this decision barely publicized, potentially has direct impact on every country governed by the WTO, and indirectly any other country where the wind blows or food is imported.