Science Wars: Does Roundup Cause Animal Miscarriages?

As if the genetically engineered (GE) food debate weren't heated enough, a new war is brewing in the plant science community over Roundup Ready crops' potential dangers.

Sustainable foodies were already bitter about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) decision to deregulate GE alfalfa and sugar beets, but last week's news really twisted the knife. As Change.org reported, plant pathologist and former Perdue University professor, Don M. Huber, apparently wrote to Tom Vilsack one week before the Ag Secretary fully deregulated Monsanto's Roundup Ready, GE alfalfa. Huber warned Vilsack not to approve the Frankenplant, claiming that unpublished research from him and a group of scientists links Roundup Ready plants to a new pathogen that may be causing plant diseases and miscarriages and infertility in livestock.

The letter quickly cropped up on numerous Web sites, inciting reactions ranging from skepticism to fist-shaking rage. Now Huber's former colleagues — a group of Perdue plant scientists — have released their statement about the professor emeritus's research. Their consensus in a nutshell: It's a load of bull.

As Food Safety News reports, the Perdue scientists — including Jim Camberato, Shaun Casteel, Peter Goldsbrough, Bill Johnson, Kiersten Wise, and Charles Woloshuk — unleashed their crushing blow to Huber's claims last Thursday. The article (pdf) stated that "evidence to support these claims has neither been presented to nor evaluated by the scientific community," and that "the claims that glyphosate [the active ingredient in Roundup] is having a widespread effect on plant health are largely unsubstantiated." Ouch.

So what's the deal? Does Roundup really cause plant diseases and infertility in animals, or is Huber's research a bunch of malarkey?

Lacking the finances, time, or technical know-how to fact-check the research in question, I'm afraid I can't answer those questions. I will, however, pose another: Does it really matter?

Of course identifying all the risks associated with using Roundup Ready crops is valuable research, and I hope that scientists continue studying this topic and publish their findings. What I mean to say is that even without the research referenced in Huber's letter, scientists — and everyone, for that matter — can point to several dangers associated with planting Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops. For that reason alone, Vilsack had no business greenlighting the latest set of Roundup Ready plants — GE alfalfa and sugar beets.

Monsanto's GE plants are modified to withstand a heaving dousing of the agrochemical company's herbicide, Roundup. But as we're seeing on farms across America, weeds quickly evolve a resistance to Roundup. These weeds not only rage out of control and choke out valuable cash crops, they force farmers to rely on even more toxic herbicides, a practice that wreaks havoc on soil, nearby waterways, and wildlife — not to mention, farmers' wallets. There's one very big reason not to deregulate more Roundup Ready crops.

GE crops also tend to escape their fields and contaminate organic and non-GE plant varieties through processes like pollen transfer. Contamination is especially problematic for organic farmers, who technically aren't allowed to sell foods as "organic" if they contain any genetically modified materials. This scenario is already playing out with Roundup Ready corn, cotton, soy, and canola, but the approval of GE alfalfa makes the situation even more dire for the organic industry. The majority of organic beef and dairy farmers rely on organic alfalfa as feed for their cattle. If GE alfalfa contaminates non-GE alfalfa, it will not only destroy organic alfalfa farmers' livelihoods — the contamination threatens to completely cripple the organic meat and dairy industries.

The nascent research that Huber describes shows that we're just beginning to realize all the ways that GE crops may impact the environment and human and animal health. But let's get one thing straight: We certainly know enough already to determine that Roundup Ready crops just aren't safe. That should be reason enough for the USDA and the Obama Administration to deny their approval.

Vilsack may have given GE alfalfa and sugar beets the go-ahead, but it's not too late to prevent these Frankencrops from taking root. Sign Food & Water Watch's petition asking President Obama to protect consumers and farmers from Monsanto's GE plants.

Photo credit: eutrophication&hypoxia via Flickr