Abstract
BackgroundA previous 2-year rat feeding trial assessing potential toxicity of NK603 Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize revealed blood and urine biochemical changes indicative of liver and kidney pathology. In an effort to obtain deeper insight into these findings, molecular profiling of the liver and kidneys from the same animals was undertaken.ResultsTranscriptomics showed no segregation of NK603 maize and control feed groups with false discovery rates ranging from 43 to 83% at a cut-off p value of 1%. Changes in gene expression were not reflective of liver and kidney toxic effects. Metabolomics identified 692 and 673 metabolites in kidney and liver, respectively. None of the statistically significant disturbances detected (12–56 for different test groups) survived a false discovery rate analysis. Differences in these metabolites between individual animals within a group were greater than the effect of test diets, which prevents a definitive conclusion on either pathology or safety.ConclusionsEven if the biological relevance of the statistical differences presented in this study is unclear, our results are made available for scrutiny by the scientific community and for comparison in future studies investigating potential toxicological properties of the NK603 corn.
Highlights
A previous 2-year rat feeding trial assessing potential toxicity of NK603 Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize revealed blood and urine biochemical changes indicative of liver and kidney pathology
Part of the concern raised by these genetically modified (GM) crops rests on the fact that to date the vast majority are engineered to either tolerate application of a herbicide or produce a new systemic insecticide or both, which can result in elevated levels of these substances in food and feed [5]
Of particular relevance to the study we present here, analysis of blood and urine of rats fed a diet supplemented with Roundup-tolerant NK603 GM corn for 90 days showed statistically significant differences in multiple components [29], which has been suggested may constitute early signs of liver and kidney toxicity [30]
Summary
A previous 2-year rat feeding trial assessing potential toxicity of NK603 Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize revealed blood and urine biochemical changes indicative of liver and kidney pathology. The application of genetic modification (recombinant DNA, transgenic) technologies in agricultural practice has been advocated as an important advance in recent decades [1] As they are made to meet the food needs of the entire human and most farm animal populations, the safety of plant products derived from this type of biotechnology is an important consideration and has been a matter of great debate. In 2014, insecticide production and herbicide tolerance traits were deployed singly or in combination (“stacked”) in all agricultural GM commodity crops namely maize, soybeans, cotton and canola [5] These GM crops were collectively planted globally on 181 million hectares in 28 countries, which represents approximately 8% of total global cropland, cultivation was concentrated (>90%) in just 6 nations [5].
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