$25 Million GMO and Pesticide Safety Study Launched in London

A non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Russia, The Russian National Association for Genetic Safety (NAGS), has initiated a so called ‘World’s largest ever study on GMO and pesticide safety’ - ‘Factor GMO’. The $25 million ‘Factor GMO’ study will investigate the health effects of a genetically modified (GMO) crop that has been in our food and animal feed supplies for many years. It will answer the question: Is this GMO food and associated pesticide (Glyphosate / Roundup) safe for human health?
 

‘Factor GMO’s preparatory phase started in early 2014. The full experiment will begin in 2015 and will last 2-3 years, with interim results being published at regular intervals during that time.

 

The study will test a herbicide-tolerant GM maize and realistic levels of the glyphosate herbicide it is engineered to be grown with on a total of over 6000 rats. The study will take place at undisclosed locations in Western Europe and Russia. 

 

The exact locations of the study must be kept confidential for security reasons as Factor GMO wants to avoid any outside interference that could compromise the day-to-day running of the experiments and/or the final results.

 

Laboratory animals (rats) will be fed the GM food and pesticides according to a protocol whose scale, rigour and range of measurements will meet and exceed current international standards for testing the toxicity of GM foods, pesticides, and other chemicals.

 

The experiment uses more rigorous approaches to investigate the fundamental question of the safety of GM foods and pesticides than are currently required by regulators. It will provide sufficient data to say with confidence whether the real world levels of consumption of the GM food and its associated pesticide are safe.

 

The scientists involved in Factor GMO come from a ‘neutral’ background, in that they have no connection to the biotech industry or the anti-GMO movement, a factor that will add credibility to the results.

 

The funding process will be totally transparent and a full list of funders will be provided at the start of the experimental phase in 2015. Up to this stage private individuals from across Russia and the EU have put forward their funds to support the project (names to be disclosed next year). The close-to-$25 million in funding needed for this project has been/is being sourced from around the world. 

 

Factor GMO has not and will not accept funds from the industry that manufactures GM crops and their associated pesticides. The funders will have no influence on the design, results, or publication of the study.