The difference between a medical journal editor and a jellyfish




You know the difference between a medical journal editor and a jellyfish? The editor is at least supposed to have a spine.

If you can't stand up to big corporations with special interests—if you're not prepared to publish quality research and let the chips fall where they may—you have no business running a medical journal ... because that's how people get hurt.

Earlier this month, the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology made the gutless decision to retract a study linking genetically modified (GMO) crops to tumors in mice. They said, upon further review, researchers didn't use enough mice, and that the particular breed used was susceptible to tumors.

And they're so full of bull they ought to be wearing horns and a cowbell.

But first, I know what you're thinking. What's this "upon further review" business? Aren't these studies reviewed BEFORE they're published? You bet they are. And this one, led by a top French scientist, spent four months under extensive peer review before it EVER saw the light of day.

So what changed? Well, the second this controversial study went to print, the entire GMO industry launched a major public relations blitz attacking the research and the journal itself. And instead of hanging in there ... instead of fighting for truth and science ... Food and Chemical Toxicology folded like a poker player with nothing but a pair of deuces.

The journal even hired a former employee of Monsanto (a top GMO firm) to start editing biotech papers, a move that Independent Science News said raised "urgent questions."

The next thing you know, Food and Chemical Toxicology was retracting the same GMO study it previously approved for publication, spewing bogus excuses no sane person would believe.

Let's be clear. The 200 mice used in this research were reportedly the most EVER used for a standard GMO diet study. Plus, scientists analyzed the effect of GMO corn on mice for two full years, compared to the 90-day time window Monsanto itself had used in a previous study.

And thank God for that extra time, because the tumors started appearing at around the four-month mark.

Not since the days of Big Tobacco has an entire industry fought so hard and spent so much to keep you in the dark about products they swear are safe. GMO companies and Big Food fat cats have spent a king's ransom to prevent state and national labeling laws, even though poll after poll show that the public wants to know which crops have been genetically modified.

There's plenty about GMO crops that the GMO industry doesn't want you to know. Let's hope we have enough scientists and policymakers committed to exposing the truth before it's too late. Right now, we're in desperate need of a few more brave souls.

Yours in good health,
Bob Reagan

Sources: Journal retracts controversial GMO cancer study: (latimes.com)
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