Greenpeace Urges Ban in Light of Study Allegedly Linking GM Crops to Lower Fertility in Mice

A study commissioned by the Austrian Ministries for Agriculture and Health has reportedly linked genetically modified crops to lower fertility rates in mice, prompting Greenpeace International to reiterate its call for a global ban. Led by University of Vienna Professor of Veterinary Medicine Jurgen Zentek, researchers concluded that compared to mice on a normal feed mix, those fed a diet of 33 percent GM corn produced third and fourth litters with fewer offspring of lower birth weights. The team described the results as “statistically significant,”
adding that more females in the GM-diet group “remained without litters than in the control group.” In response to the finding, one Greenpeace scientist told the Daily Mail that GM food “appears to be acting as a birth-control agent, potentially leading to infertility. If this is not reason enough to close down the whole biotech industry once and for all, I am not sure what kind of disaster we are
waiting for,” he opined. See The Daily Mail, November 12, 2008.