Article excerpt from Seattle GMO Examiner

by Nancy Swanson

A paper published last week in the scientific journal Entropy explains the connection between glyphosate and gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

According to the authors, “glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins. Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body. Here, we show how interference with CYP enzymes acts synergistically with disruption of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids by gut bacteria, as well as impairment in serum sulfate transport. Consequences are most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We explain the documented effects of glyphosate and its ability to induce disease, and we show that glyphosate is the ‘textbook example’ of exogenous semiotic entropy: the disruption of homeostasis by environmental toxins.”

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) were first introduced into the food supply in the 1995. One of the primary genetically engineered (GE) traits is resistance to direct herbicide applications. As a result, there has been a huge increase in the amount of glyphosate applied to cotton, corn, canola, sugar beet, and soy crops grown in the U.S. corresponding to the rise in the percentage of these GE varieties planted.

Since GMOs were introduced into the food supply the rate of chronic health conditions among children in the United States increased from 12.8% in 1994 to 26.6% in 2006, particularly for asthma, obesity, and behavior and learning problems. The rate of chronic disease in the entire U.S. population has been dramatically increasing with an estimated 25% of the U.S. population suffering from multiple chronic diseases.

• Read the rest of the article by Nancy Swanson in the Seattle GMO Examiner.
• Read Dr. Nancy Swanson’s series on GMO Policy & Issues.
• Download Dr. Swanson’s full document (with charts): “Genetically Modified Organisms and the deterioration of health in the United States” (April 24, 2013)

Dr. Nancy Swanson graduated from Western Washington University with a B.S. degree in physics and math in 1986. She received her Ph.D. in physics from The Florida State University. She then worked as a staff scientist for the United States Navy. Upon returning to Washington, Nancy taught physics at WWU. She holds five U.S. patents. She is the author of over 30 scientific publications and two books on women in science.