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By Sean Poulter~Daily Mail
Children have been used as ‘lab rats’ in GM rice trials that were carried out in breach of ethics rules drawn up in response to the medical crimes of Nazi Germany, it is claimed.
Youngsters aged 6-10 were fed so-called Golden Rice, which has been modified to contain enhanced levels of beta carotene or vitamin A.
The rice is being developed to combat Vitamin A deficiency, which is linked to damage to the sight, poor brain development and immune system failure.
However high consumption can also have harmful toxic effects and cause birth defects.
Critics are furious that the GM rice was not put through animal feeding trials to ensure it was safe before being given to children.
The decision to use the children has been condemned as ‘completely unacceptable’ by a group of 22 scientists – all GM critics – from Britain and around the world.
They claim it is indicative of moves by the biotech lobby, led by the USA and biotech firms, to force GM food into the mouths of the world without proper assessment.
The project was financed and run through the US National Institutes of Health and involved children in China and America.
The scientists have written an open letter to the team behind the experiments, condemning the way they were conducted.
It states: ‘We are writing to express our shock and unequivocal denunciation of the experiments being conducted by your colleagues which involve the feeding of genetically modified Golden Rice to human subjects.’
The letter says there has been ‘woefully inadequate pre-clinical evaluation’ of the rice.
The scientists argue there is a large body of evidence showing GM food production can trigger gene mutations which ‘can result in health damaging effects when GM food products are fed to animals’.
The letter adds: ‘Our greatest concern is that this rice, which is engineered to overproduce beta carotene, has never been tested in animals’.
It says there is evidence that certain chemicals derived from beta carotene ‘are both toxic and cause birth defects’.
Critics of the GM experiments says the Nuremburg code states that children under 10 are not considered legally capable of giving consent to participation in such experiments.
