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| Just A Little RNA Can Keep The Doctor DOA |
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| micro-RNA terrifies the medical establishment, and it's here already...... |
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This is Dark Cloud on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Boulder has traditions, and one of them is the hyped up crisis. We've recently endured the horror of genetically modified crops being planted in our county owned Open Space, which totals 18 thousand acres, 12 of which are used for crops. At the public meetings there were the Big Agriculture experts who denied there was any danger at all, either to eating the GMO crops or to the inevitable inroads the man-made organisms would make in neighboring fields, corrupting the genetics of nature. On the extreme other side were the half educated or self serving who feared that it would hurt the market for their alleged organic or natural agriculture, but really just a chance to yell against a big business. Monsanto is the biggest of the big in this field and it received the most anger. The vast majority of those involved fell in the middle and were not given to hysterics, but as usual the extremes receive the coverage. A local editorial summed up their tentative okay to these crops being used on Open Space, saying that if there was danger of soil erosion or unhealthy chicken feed, business interest would act against it. Really? I recall a few years back at a Boulder restaurant getting a fresh water striped bass. There is no such thing. I routinely fished for striped bass in Massachusetts, and it is a salt water fish. No more. They bred it with a freshwater cousin in fish farms and voila! It tasted fine, and looked fine, but it creeped me out, possibly adding a second or two of contemplation before I licked the plate. In this month's Atlantic magazine, it seems Chinese scientists at Nanjing University found small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the blood and organs of humans who eat rice, specifically genetically altered rice. This particular genetic material binds to proteins in human liver cells and affects cholesterol in the blood. Is this bad? RNA and DNA are found in every living thing. And these were, after all, "small pieces." Well, the article continues. These are a specific type of RNA. "MicroRNAs have been studied extensively since their discovery ten years ago, and have been linked to human diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. The Chinese research provides the first example of ingested plant microRNA surviving digestion and influencing human cell function. Should the research survive scientific scrutiny, it could prove a game changer in many fields. It would mean that we're eating not just vitamins, protein, and fuel, but information as well. The Chinese RNA study threatens to blast a major hole in Monsanto's claim. It means that DNA can code for microRNA, which can, in fact, be hazardous." The article says Monsanto's assurances of safety are based on 1950 era science, that thought there was "a one-way chain of command between DNA and the cells DNA governs." That isn't so, it seems. If the Chinese discovery is proven true, and nobody has yet doubted it, Monsanto's cover story is hogwash. We ingest genetic information in the food, and this means that the biotech industry needs "to confront the possibility that new DNA can have dangerous implications far beyond the products it codes for."The article ends: "Can we count on the biotech industry to accept the notion that more testing is necessary? Not if such action is perceived as a threat to the bottom line." This isn't well known, and it isn't totally validated, but if in the main it is correct, we've unleashed little organic computers into our bodies and those of our food plants and animals. There they operate in silence and ease, pursuing goals of their own or just randomly screwing around. We have no idea if these are actually as dangerous as the current evidence suggests they could well be. But maybe we could wait a bit before unloading more of this stuff into the system. This is a bully club in the wrong hands, and I'd hate to see a hysterical backlash without further study likely to provide helpful information. On the other hand, I'd like not to see genetic deformities appear en masse if some hesitation could prevent it. Again, this new possibility erases the old arguments if it can be proven that RNA can be created spontaneously due to genetic change and reprogram the DNA in our bodies by simple ingestion, or inhalation. On the other hand, China is the source of much of the dubious vitamins that appear in our grocery stores and pharmacies today. Maybe it's a conspiracy to destroy a heroic American business? Doubt it, but the Republican primaries continue. |
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