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  • From: Steve Gilman <sgilman AT netheaven.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Corn Gluten - GMO
  • Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 14:04:25 -0500

In response to Bill Shoemaker's message:
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 13:46:07 -0600
From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Corn Gluten - GMO
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <005301c60cb0$9cb17210$3ab7d6d8@STCHARLES>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

The GMO will not move in the soil. It will be like other plant residues. It will be broken down through microbial feeding into smaller and smaller organic molecules while the microorganisms feeding on it benefit from the energy released during feeding. Plants grown in the GMO residue (GMO corn gluten) will not take up the GMO molecule in any meaningful, functional way. It's much more likely that the microorganisms will break it down thoroughly.

But Rivka and Mark bring up good points. If your goal is organic production, certified or not, you need to be careful about your source of corn gluten. I can't imagine that most of the corn gluten out there isn't derived from GMO corn. And I doubt that the issue of what the residual derivatives are, and how long they last, has been sufficiently researched for organic purposes. On the other hand, it could be very complicated by the fact that natural Bacillus thuringiensis and other Bacillus species are native to most soils.

Bill Shoemaker, Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - St Charles Horticulture Research Center
www.nres.uiuc.edu/faculty/directory/shoemaker_wh.html


One major problem totally glossed over by the Ag Biotech industry is that Bt -- Bacillus thuringiensus -- is it is a naturally occuring SOIL bacteria. It was discovered years back that different strains of Bt have the ability to paralyze the gut of pests, causing them to stop feeding on the crop plant (or in the case of blackflies and mosquitos, on blood) and starving them to death.

Since the strains are relatively pest specific ( ie. not affecting beneficials) and are derived from natural organisms, they are allowed in Organic production with the proviso that the so-called inerts in the brand's formulation do not contain petrochemicals or other biocides.

Despite the biotech industry's claims of "substantial equivalence", this is hardly true (and they are able to claim patents because their formulations are actually demonstrably different). There's a big difference in the action and persistence of the biotech Bt vs. the organic.

The formulations approved for organic use are generally sprayed on the crop and break down in a few days due to environmental exposure. While this effects pests immediately, the substance doesn't linge raround long enough to allow pests a chance to breed up resistance.

Transgenic Bt, on the other hand, is genetically inserted into the plant's DNA and is expressed over the lifetime of the plant, throughout the leaves, stems, flowers, roots, root exudates, pollen and seeds -- thus offering ample opportunity for pests to build up resistance. Corn pollen can spread the transgenic Bt locally and up to miles around on the wind, where it can lodge in natural habitats that are food for butterflys and other beneficials.

Largely unstudied are the soil effects. Soil foodweb studies document that up to 60% of a plant's photosynthesis energy is put out as carbohydrate foods through root exudates to build colonies of benefical microbes that are specifically adept at protecting the rhizosphere from disease organisms and mineralizing soil nutrients for use by the plant.

Transgenic Bt is therefore delivered en mass to the soil, first by root exudates and then by crop residues. On the other hand, because organic Bt is not systemic and breaks down quickly, very little product ends up in the soil at all.

Yes, soil organisms break down corn residues but what do they break it down into? Natural soil organisms can be colonized by interlopers -- that's what plant disease pathogen are all about. Here is the rub: Bt, is a native soil organism -- and the transgenic Bt complex, containing antibiotic genes and other markers, is very much at Home in the soil. Research that was funded for 8 months traced its persistence for the full 8 months of the study with the investigators surmising the effects live on well beyond that.

What does this mean? If the biotech companies have any idea they haven't released any studies (that could cast negative light on their endeavors). EPA, FDA and USDA (see no evil; hear no evil; speak no evil) haven't required research and there's precious little funding available for independent researchers, especially with a whole army of indentured botech industry scientists ready to jump down their throats.

It's entirely feasible, however, that delicate soil microbe balances can be upset by the enhanced presence of the transgenic interlopers, possibly producing super-microbes with possible pathogenic effects. It is also possible that subsequent crops could pick up some residual transgenic Bt. At the very least, farmers stand to lose the use of this beneficent pest control because its ubiquitous persistent presence in the environment is a prescription for breeding pest resistance.

For those looking into using corn gluten, therefore, there's a very good chance this substance contains GMOs, since the transgenic Bt is fully present in all parts of the plant....

Here's to a brighter New Year!

Steve Gilman
Ruckytucks Farm







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