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Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public Audio CD – CD, August 2, 2016
by
Steven M. Druker
(Author, Reader),
Christopher Lane
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Laural Merlington
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Steven M. Druker
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherBrilliance Audio
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Publication dateAugust 2, 2016
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Dimensions6.5 x 1.75 x 5.5 inches
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ISBN-101511311460
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ISBN-13978-1511311465
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Steven M. Druker is a public interest attorney who initiated a lawsuit that forced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to divulge its files on genetically engineered foods. This exposed how the agency had covered up the warnings of its own scientists about the risks, lied about the facts, and then ushered these foods onto the market in violation of federal law. He has served on the food safety panels at conferences held by the National Research Council and the FDA, presented lectures at numerous universities, met with government officials throughout the world, and conferred at the White House Executive Offices with a task force of President Clinton’s Council on Environmental Quality.
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Product details
- Publisher : Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition (August 2, 2016)
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1511311460
- ISBN-13 : 978-1511311465
- Item Weight : 14.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.75 x 5.5 inches
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Best Sellers Rank:
#5,864,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #291 in Genetically Engineered Food Nutrition
- #3,867 in Biotechnology (Books)
- #66,068 in Diets & Weight Loss (Books)
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Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
Having a degree in molecular biology from way back in 1967, I was somewhat familiar with the technical description of cellular biology and DNA in this book. I have always had an uneasy feeling about GMO's and wanted to avoid them, but now I know why. In the late 1980's my mother suffered from chronic insomnia. I was a practicing pharmacist and wanting to avoid the "sleeping pill" route, suggested she take L Tryptophan never knowing it could have killed her. She took the supplement and as a result was very sick for many months but did recover. L Tryptophan was taken off the shelves and I never did hear why. Not until I read Altered Genes, Twisted Truth. That L Tryptophan she took was the first example of the horrendous side effects of a supplement produced by GMO bacteria. For me the most interesting chapter concerned the comparison of computer "code" with the complexity of the "code" involving DNA and other proteins in the cell. A very compelling argument that bioengineering should more accurately be called "biohacking." I appreciate the optimism that the author displays as far as getting rid of GMO's altogether, but doubt it will happen. In my opinion, politicians don't really rule this country--megacorporations do. Monsanto would never allow their GMO's to be banned. It's all about money. They make Round UP resistant soybeans and with it sell Round Up. Too many corporations make too much money on GMO's and the science of GMO's is not understood by too many people. I do hope that we can get them labeled, though. That would be a step in the right direction.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must-Read If You Care about the Untested Genetic Material Being Forced Down Your Throat
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2015Verified Purchase
There's a war going on, people, and according to this book, it's between bio-engineers, the industry that supports them including many major chemical and herbicide corporations that seek to dominate the world food business, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), and even the FDA that is supposed to protect you --- all of them on one side -- versus you on the other. That is you, your family, and your legal right to expect that the food you buy in the grocery stores of America has been tested and is safe.
This is one of the most important books of the last 50 years. "Altered Genes, Twisted Truth" is the story of how America (and Canada) ended up far down a sinister road regarding genetic engineering of our food supply. Anyone who dares question Monsanto ("the world's most evil corporation," according to its critics) and the other big chemical and bio-engineering companies that have muscled into the food business, has usually been attacked, no-holds-barred, by those companies and their minions. In their arrogance, they would discredit any of those who dare to criticize them and their methods. They sneer at them as "kooks" and brand them "anti-science." Politicians who make election promises to force the labeling of GMO foods are soon paid off and silenced. The people in various States launch propositions to require labeling of GE foods -- not to ban them, mind you, but simply to fulfill your right to know what's in your food so you can make an informed choice -- and industry promptly spends millions of dollars to prevent that from happening. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the member chemical giants now up to their wallets in the food biz, and well-loved companies you wouldn't suspect to be behind any attempt not to tell you what's in their products (including Coke and Pepsi -- say it's not so!), spend hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent such legislation from coming to pass. So far they have been successful in their attempt to keep you deeply in the dark. Why would they do this to you? The manufacturers are already required to tell you even if there is sugar in your food or drink, for instance, or high-fructose corn syrup. So why not just tell you some of the ingredients are genetically engineered (GE) material? What is all the fuss about?
Good question -- and in this book, Steven Druker provides the answers.
For example, about 90% of the American corn crop is now GE, which means so is the corn syrup derived from it -- and this ubiquitous sweetener is already in a host of products you probably eat and drink. So why should you not be told? The simple truth is, these companies suspect that even those shoppers who unthinkingly pop box after box of processed food and beverages into their carts might balk if they were told that "food" was a genetic creation -- created by scientists wielding gene guns in laboratories.
The proponents of genetically altered food will try and tell you that what they do is no different than what happens in nature when natural selection occurs. Or perhaps it's just like grafting, where the branch of one peach tree is grown on the root stock of another. But according to Druker, these are blatant lies. Genes from one species don't just happen to arrive in the DNA of another species. Never. Not possible. You can't shoot an eel gene into a salmon, say, and call the unusual fish that results, "GRAS" -- Generally Recognized as Safe. And when you graft the branch of a tree onto another root stock, you create a clone -- not an species that previously did not exist in the history of the world. To make a genetically altered creature, you must take a gun -- it used to be a literally .22 pistol -- coat the bullet with genetic material, and fire it into a mass of DNA. You have no idea if it's going to work, and usually, it doesn't. It's a highly unusual scenario -- again, never before occurring on our planet. And even in those rare cases when the gene does "take," the scientists have no way of knowing where in the DNA sequence that gene has been randomly inserted. That alone can created a poisonous and disastrous outcome. Druker presents hard evidence of an epidemic that that already occurred this way. Many Americans became very sick. Some died. Oh, you're surprised? Don't remember this from the news? Well don't be. Read the book. You'll find out why.
Druker presents many disturbing and sometimes infuriating stories of "how the venture to genetically engineer our food has subverted science, corrupted government, and systematically deceived the public."
The author of course knows he will be attacked and his reputation impugned, with good reason, and he has taken significant steps to make that difficult. He is a lawyer by training, and a meticulous researcher. In spite of the formidable foes he faces, their deep pockets and well-documented intimidation tactics, he has a league of renowned scientists on his side as well, and he stacked up hard evidence over the course of many years. His book reveals the flawed science and sometimes scandalous lies used to foist untested, genetically engineered material, right onto your dinner plate.
Druker, the "reluctant activist," once sued the FDA for breaking the very laws that were set up to protect the public from potentially unsafe, untested food substances. He lost the case because of a most suspect and peculiar ruling by the judge -- but in the process, he gained access to a priceless trove of the FDA's own documents. These prove, in the words of the agency's own scientists, that untested genetic crops may have grave consequences on public health. However, in pursuit of a lucrative bio-engineering industry, and in blatant disregard of laws that were put in place to protect you, this evidence had been largely suppressed. Don't be surprised if you become angry when it becomes abundantly clear that the food and beverage industries have made all of us their guinea pigs in what has become the greatest untested manipulation of our food source in the history of humanity.
"Altered Genes" can be heavy going, there's no denying that. Druker was careful to prepare his arsenal before he fired his salvo at federal agencies and the multinationals that have staked out your family's food as their own multi-billion dollar profit center. He meticulously backs up each claim with footnoted evidence. However, that material is worth wading through if you have a concern over what is in the "food" you and your loved ones consume, while you have been deliberately kept in ignorance by the industries serving it up. Still, if you find it difficult to take it all in (and so did we), there is a summary online. Search the title of the book, find the website, and look at "Additional Material." At this writing, there is only a one-page executive summary. But this is a new publication and there's a promise on the site that a chapter-by-chapter synopsis will soon be available. While the author in his enthusiasm really wants you to read the whole book word for word, we think for your average reader, that will be unlikely. We encourage Mr. Druker, please, in subsequent editions, provide a list of key points to be covered at the beginning of each chapter -- and at the end, provide the chapter summary with page references. In this way, those who want to know but can't eat their way through the whole thick tome, can access the salient points. Also, please consider putting out a Condensed Version, so that the work will find a place in popular non-fiction -- and also, that the overworked staffs of various presidents, senators, congressmen and other politicians, might actually get through it. The Condensed Version might be 100 pages of summary and story, beginning with a list of the scientists and agencies that stand behind "Altered Genes." This could be made available at a discounted price, in bulk, to the various concerned citizens and foundations that could circulate it to their political representatives with a better hope that it might at least be skimmed.
Skim through some of the detail if you must and you'll be amazed and even sickened by the way in which a new industry and its scientists, intoxicated with the prospect of untold riches and the domination of the international food markets, lied to politicians and greased the wheels with massive amounts of money to buy favor, bypassed even the laws intended to protect you, and finessed their way into the grocery stores of North America. (The world domination scenario has hit some serious snags, though, as companies led by Monsanto are increasingly encountering formidable opposition on continents and in countries outside the USA). Druker's book is also a disturbing expose of the FDA and the way it has been either circumvented or co-opted by the very industries it is supposed to monitor. The judge in his case even acknowledged his evidence proved this -- but threw it out on a technicality.
Unfortunately, we suspect that most people won't bother to read this important work. There are concerned citizens and support groups who are very aware, of course -- the people behind the various movements to force the labeling of food that contains GMOs. But for those who need quick summaries and catch-phrases (including mainstream media), this will be very heavy going. The various corporations, on the other hand, continue to wage the multi-million dollar fight to prevent the GMO labeling movement from finding success, even when various States insist that it will happen. On the federal level, they've secured politicians who serve their desire for you never to be told which "food" you buy has been genetically tampered with. Your ignorance of what you eat, feeds their profits.
However, we can all hope that in the end, industry will be forced to tell you when your food is GE, or contains ingredients that have been engineered. Most regrettably, it may take a public health catastrophe before that happens. Even then, and we hope we're not being too cynical, but it's very likely that most people won't bother to read the list of ingredients on the side of the box. They'll ignore the small words to the effect that "this product contains genetically modified ingredients." They'll assume that if it's in the stores, it's been tested for safety -- wrongly so, according to Druker. They'll go right on eating it.
The argument put forward by industry that it would cost too much for them to label genetically engineered food is ridiculous. As noted, companies are already required to list more than 300 ingredients, so what is one more item on the label? Certainly, it's an insignificant cost factor. The evidence is already all around us. Just take a look at the shelves of a giant grocery seller like Costco, for example. IF it's so inordinately expensive to put "GE" on a label, why is it so very affordable for thousands of other companies to tell you in big letters, "this product contains no GMOs" or -- better yet -- "Organic" -- in large type? Did all that ink bankrupt those often far smaller companies? You figure it out.
At the end of the day, it appears that the American food and beverage industries are determined to keep genetically engineered ingredients in your food. They say that there are billions of hungry people in the world and only genetically produced food can feed them. A fine altruistic, philanthropic stance. But is it true? There is no compelling evidence whatsoever. Also, very obviously, they expect those hungry people to have no say in the fact that the chemical companies segueing into the food biz intend to make them eat their untested genetically engineered matter. Like Macbeth, the multinationals are guilty of "vaulting ambition." But their hubris and world schemes overleap anything Shakespeare could even have imagined.
A better idea might be to support local farmers around the globe with better traditionally produced hybrid (by time-honored cross pollination), and especially heritage, seeds -- farmers who provide for their own communities. That would be genuinely philanthropic and would created a truly sustainable model -- local self sufficiency. If you think this is a random idea, consider this. Bill Gates massively funded foundation prefers the chemical giants' model for countries like Africa. This means genetically modified seeds, huge factory farms on the American scale requiring 1st world equipment, and billions of gallons of herbicides led by Monsanto's RoundUp (with it's suspected carcinogen, glyphosate), soaking into the crops and the land. On the other hand, there's Warren Buffet's son Howard, a US farmer by trade and choice, who thinks the answer for Africa is very different. He wants better drought tolerant hybridized seeds that can be distributed to African farmers. They will feed their families and communities using little more than shovels and some 3rd world irrigation techniques.
We already know which way the industrial giants in the food biz want to go. These are cutthroat industries, all about money rolling in, and market domination. Control of the international food seed markets gives the companies, and the governments from which they come, world dominion without the need for wars, military or diplomacy. Cut off the food supply, and you have instant capitulation. Those who grow Monsanto's patented seeds are not allowed to save them. This subverts the oldest and most time-honored practice farmers have practiced for tens of thousands of years, since humanity created agriculture in the first place. Growers in the countries Monsanto dominates are required to purchase new batches of genetically altered seed, at high cost, each and every year. Failure to do so, at the price and terms the chemical giant dictates, bankrupts the farmer and ends his business.
If you think the chemical giants have any truly altruistic bone in their corporate bodies, consider how they behave. They most ardently desire to prevent even you, a fellow citizen, from knowing which foods on your grocery shelves have GMOs in them. They pursue their misguided course in the face of the millions of citizens who loudly voice their right to know. The FDA, for its part, seems to have no stomach for the fight to inform you of exactly what in your food has been genetically modified.
On June 2, 2015, Dr Mercola, purveyor of "the #1 Natural Health Website" in the world, wrote an online article entitled "A Challenge to Monsanto," in which he published author Steven Druker's challenge to the makers of the herbicide RoundUp who also own the patents on many genetically engineered crops, to refute any of the facts in his book. Apparently, that ultimatum has gone unanswered.
Unfortunately, the book can leave you feeling angry, frustrated and powerless -- at the mercy of great forces far beyond your control. However, there is hope. There are things you can do. For one, with books like this, you can educate yourself, then pass your copy around. And you can take Dr. Mercola's advice: "[D]eciding to eliminate GE foods from your diet and replacing them with locally grown organics is among the most important health decisions you can make for yourself and your family...."
Read "Altered Genes, Twisted Truth" and you may come to agree with Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE and UN Messenger of Peace (who wrote the Foreword), that "...Steven Druker is a hero. He deserves at least a Nobel Prize."
We predict that there will be a flood of books, documentaries, and other media productions that will illustrate these issues in ways that will be more accessible to the public. A movie about Steven Druker's law suit against the FDA would be a start. However, all of them will no doubt quote and acknowledge the significant body of research in "Altered Genes." It is the giant on whose shoulders they will stand.
A must-read. Recommended.
This is one of the most important books of the last 50 years. "Altered Genes, Twisted Truth" is the story of how America (and Canada) ended up far down a sinister road regarding genetic engineering of our food supply. Anyone who dares question Monsanto ("the world's most evil corporation," according to its critics) and the other big chemical and bio-engineering companies that have muscled into the food business, has usually been attacked, no-holds-barred, by those companies and their minions. In their arrogance, they would discredit any of those who dare to criticize them and their methods. They sneer at them as "kooks" and brand them "anti-science." Politicians who make election promises to force the labeling of GMO foods are soon paid off and silenced. The people in various States launch propositions to require labeling of GE foods -- not to ban them, mind you, but simply to fulfill your right to know what's in your food so you can make an informed choice -- and industry promptly spends millions of dollars to prevent that from happening. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the member chemical giants now up to their wallets in the food biz, and well-loved companies you wouldn't suspect to be behind any attempt not to tell you what's in their products (including Coke and Pepsi -- say it's not so!), spend hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent such legislation from coming to pass. So far they have been successful in their attempt to keep you deeply in the dark. Why would they do this to you? The manufacturers are already required to tell you even if there is sugar in your food or drink, for instance, or high-fructose corn syrup. So why not just tell you some of the ingredients are genetically engineered (GE) material? What is all the fuss about?
Good question -- and in this book, Steven Druker provides the answers.
For example, about 90% of the American corn crop is now GE, which means so is the corn syrup derived from it -- and this ubiquitous sweetener is already in a host of products you probably eat and drink. So why should you not be told? The simple truth is, these companies suspect that even those shoppers who unthinkingly pop box after box of processed food and beverages into their carts might balk if they were told that "food" was a genetic creation -- created by scientists wielding gene guns in laboratories.
The proponents of genetically altered food will try and tell you that what they do is no different than what happens in nature when natural selection occurs. Or perhaps it's just like grafting, where the branch of one peach tree is grown on the root stock of another. But according to Druker, these are blatant lies. Genes from one species don't just happen to arrive in the DNA of another species. Never. Not possible. You can't shoot an eel gene into a salmon, say, and call the unusual fish that results, "GRAS" -- Generally Recognized as Safe. And when you graft the branch of a tree onto another root stock, you create a clone -- not an species that previously did not exist in the history of the world. To make a genetically altered creature, you must take a gun -- it used to be a literally .22 pistol -- coat the bullet with genetic material, and fire it into a mass of DNA. You have no idea if it's going to work, and usually, it doesn't. It's a highly unusual scenario -- again, never before occurring on our planet. And even in those rare cases when the gene does "take," the scientists have no way of knowing where in the DNA sequence that gene has been randomly inserted. That alone can created a poisonous and disastrous outcome. Druker presents hard evidence of an epidemic that that already occurred this way. Many Americans became very sick. Some died. Oh, you're surprised? Don't remember this from the news? Well don't be. Read the book. You'll find out why.
Druker presents many disturbing and sometimes infuriating stories of "how the venture to genetically engineer our food has subverted science, corrupted government, and systematically deceived the public."
The author of course knows he will be attacked and his reputation impugned, with good reason, and he has taken significant steps to make that difficult. He is a lawyer by training, and a meticulous researcher. In spite of the formidable foes he faces, their deep pockets and well-documented intimidation tactics, he has a league of renowned scientists on his side as well, and he stacked up hard evidence over the course of many years. His book reveals the flawed science and sometimes scandalous lies used to foist untested, genetically engineered material, right onto your dinner plate.
Druker, the "reluctant activist," once sued the FDA for breaking the very laws that were set up to protect the public from potentially unsafe, untested food substances. He lost the case because of a most suspect and peculiar ruling by the judge -- but in the process, he gained access to a priceless trove of the FDA's own documents. These prove, in the words of the agency's own scientists, that untested genetic crops may have grave consequences on public health. However, in pursuit of a lucrative bio-engineering industry, and in blatant disregard of laws that were put in place to protect you, this evidence had been largely suppressed. Don't be surprised if you become angry when it becomes abundantly clear that the food and beverage industries have made all of us their guinea pigs in what has become the greatest untested manipulation of our food source in the history of humanity.
"Altered Genes" can be heavy going, there's no denying that. Druker was careful to prepare his arsenal before he fired his salvo at federal agencies and the multinationals that have staked out your family's food as their own multi-billion dollar profit center. He meticulously backs up each claim with footnoted evidence. However, that material is worth wading through if you have a concern over what is in the "food" you and your loved ones consume, while you have been deliberately kept in ignorance by the industries serving it up. Still, if you find it difficult to take it all in (and so did we), there is a summary online. Search the title of the book, find the website, and look at "Additional Material." At this writing, there is only a one-page executive summary. But this is a new publication and there's a promise on the site that a chapter-by-chapter synopsis will soon be available. While the author in his enthusiasm really wants you to read the whole book word for word, we think for your average reader, that will be unlikely. We encourage Mr. Druker, please, in subsequent editions, provide a list of key points to be covered at the beginning of each chapter -- and at the end, provide the chapter summary with page references. In this way, those who want to know but can't eat their way through the whole thick tome, can access the salient points. Also, please consider putting out a Condensed Version, so that the work will find a place in popular non-fiction -- and also, that the overworked staffs of various presidents, senators, congressmen and other politicians, might actually get through it. The Condensed Version might be 100 pages of summary and story, beginning with a list of the scientists and agencies that stand behind "Altered Genes." This could be made available at a discounted price, in bulk, to the various concerned citizens and foundations that could circulate it to their political representatives with a better hope that it might at least be skimmed.
Skim through some of the detail if you must and you'll be amazed and even sickened by the way in which a new industry and its scientists, intoxicated with the prospect of untold riches and the domination of the international food markets, lied to politicians and greased the wheels with massive amounts of money to buy favor, bypassed even the laws intended to protect you, and finessed their way into the grocery stores of North America. (The world domination scenario has hit some serious snags, though, as companies led by Monsanto are increasingly encountering formidable opposition on continents and in countries outside the USA). Druker's book is also a disturbing expose of the FDA and the way it has been either circumvented or co-opted by the very industries it is supposed to monitor. The judge in his case even acknowledged his evidence proved this -- but threw it out on a technicality.
Unfortunately, we suspect that most people won't bother to read this important work. There are concerned citizens and support groups who are very aware, of course -- the people behind the various movements to force the labeling of food that contains GMOs. But for those who need quick summaries and catch-phrases (including mainstream media), this will be very heavy going. The various corporations, on the other hand, continue to wage the multi-million dollar fight to prevent the GMO labeling movement from finding success, even when various States insist that it will happen. On the federal level, they've secured politicians who serve their desire for you never to be told which "food" you buy has been genetically tampered with. Your ignorance of what you eat, feeds their profits.
However, we can all hope that in the end, industry will be forced to tell you when your food is GE, or contains ingredients that have been engineered. Most regrettably, it may take a public health catastrophe before that happens. Even then, and we hope we're not being too cynical, but it's very likely that most people won't bother to read the list of ingredients on the side of the box. They'll ignore the small words to the effect that "this product contains genetically modified ingredients." They'll assume that if it's in the stores, it's been tested for safety -- wrongly so, according to Druker. They'll go right on eating it.
The argument put forward by industry that it would cost too much for them to label genetically engineered food is ridiculous. As noted, companies are already required to list more than 300 ingredients, so what is one more item on the label? Certainly, it's an insignificant cost factor. The evidence is already all around us. Just take a look at the shelves of a giant grocery seller like Costco, for example. IF it's so inordinately expensive to put "GE" on a label, why is it so very affordable for thousands of other companies to tell you in big letters, "this product contains no GMOs" or -- better yet -- "Organic" -- in large type? Did all that ink bankrupt those often far smaller companies? You figure it out.
At the end of the day, it appears that the American food and beverage industries are determined to keep genetically engineered ingredients in your food. They say that there are billions of hungry people in the world and only genetically produced food can feed them. A fine altruistic, philanthropic stance. But is it true? There is no compelling evidence whatsoever. Also, very obviously, they expect those hungry people to have no say in the fact that the chemical companies segueing into the food biz intend to make them eat their untested genetically engineered matter. Like Macbeth, the multinationals are guilty of "vaulting ambition." But their hubris and world schemes overleap anything Shakespeare could even have imagined.
A better idea might be to support local farmers around the globe with better traditionally produced hybrid (by time-honored cross pollination), and especially heritage, seeds -- farmers who provide for their own communities. That would be genuinely philanthropic and would created a truly sustainable model -- local self sufficiency. If you think this is a random idea, consider this. Bill Gates massively funded foundation prefers the chemical giants' model for countries like Africa. This means genetically modified seeds, huge factory farms on the American scale requiring 1st world equipment, and billions of gallons of herbicides led by Monsanto's RoundUp (with it's suspected carcinogen, glyphosate), soaking into the crops and the land. On the other hand, there's Warren Buffet's son Howard, a US farmer by trade and choice, who thinks the answer for Africa is very different. He wants better drought tolerant hybridized seeds that can be distributed to African farmers. They will feed their families and communities using little more than shovels and some 3rd world irrigation techniques.
We already know which way the industrial giants in the food biz want to go. These are cutthroat industries, all about money rolling in, and market domination. Control of the international food seed markets gives the companies, and the governments from which they come, world dominion without the need for wars, military or diplomacy. Cut off the food supply, and you have instant capitulation. Those who grow Monsanto's patented seeds are not allowed to save them. This subverts the oldest and most time-honored practice farmers have practiced for tens of thousands of years, since humanity created agriculture in the first place. Growers in the countries Monsanto dominates are required to purchase new batches of genetically altered seed, at high cost, each and every year. Failure to do so, at the price and terms the chemical giant dictates, bankrupts the farmer and ends his business.
If you think the chemical giants have any truly altruistic bone in their corporate bodies, consider how they behave. They most ardently desire to prevent even you, a fellow citizen, from knowing which foods on your grocery shelves have GMOs in them. They pursue their misguided course in the face of the millions of citizens who loudly voice their right to know. The FDA, for its part, seems to have no stomach for the fight to inform you of exactly what in your food has been genetically modified.
On June 2, 2015, Dr Mercola, purveyor of "the #1 Natural Health Website" in the world, wrote an online article entitled "A Challenge to Monsanto," in which he published author Steven Druker's challenge to the makers of the herbicide RoundUp who also own the patents on many genetically engineered crops, to refute any of the facts in his book. Apparently, that ultimatum has gone unanswered.
Unfortunately, the book can leave you feeling angry, frustrated and powerless -- at the mercy of great forces far beyond your control. However, there is hope. There are things you can do. For one, with books like this, you can educate yourself, then pass your copy around. And you can take Dr. Mercola's advice: "[D]eciding to eliminate GE foods from your diet and replacing them with locally grown organics is among the most important health decisions you can make for yourself and your family...."
Read "Altered Genes, Twisted Truth" and you may come to agree with Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE and UN Messenger of Peace (who wrote the Foreword), that "...Steven Druker is a hero. He deserves at least a Nobel Prize."
We predict that there will be a flood of books, documentaries, and other media productions that will illustrate these issues in ways that will be more accessible to the public. A movie about Steven Druker's law suit against the FDA would be a start. However, all of them will no doubt quote and acknowledge the significant body of research in "Altered Genes." It is the giant on whose shoulders they will stand.
A must-read. Recommended.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The potential for using this technology for the benefit of mankind is amazing, but as usual it has been corrupted & ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018Verified Purchase
Oh dear.
The pro-biotech community are absolutely eviscerated in this book. The potential for using this technology for the benefit of mankind is amazing, but as usual it has been corrupted & distorted to the point where the damage inflicted on people & the environment makes one weep before becoming enraged.
Wake up people, use some common sense, the slogans used for the acceptance of GMO's are simply myths used to pursue an agenda. It's all superficial, go beyond the rhetoric like this book has, & you'll realise what is going on.
An essential read for everyone on the planet.
And it's time for scientists & researchers the world over to stand up & cite their concerns, without fear of being ostracized from their "peers" or jeopardizing their "careers". Stand by your principles.
The pro-biotech community are absolutely eviscerated in this book. The potential for using this technology for the benefit of mankind is amazing, but as usual it has been corrupted & distorted to the point where the damage inflicted on people & the environment makes one weep before becoming enraged.
Wake up people, use some common sense, the slogans used for the acceptance of GMO's are simply myths used to pursue an agenda. It's all superficial, go beyond the rhetoric like this book has, & you'll realise what is going on.
An essential read for everyone on the planet.
And it's time for scientists & researchers the world over to stand up & cite their concerns, without fear of being ostracized from their "peers" or jeopardizing their "careers". Stand by your principles.
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Ian P.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read Book with International Significance
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2015Verified Purchase
A must read book that has true international significance for anybody concerned about their own, and their family members, health and wellbeing.
Steve Druker points out that "what Monsanto wanted (and demanded) from the FDA was a policy that projected the illusion that its foods were being responsibly regulated but that in reality imposed no regulatory requirements at all". That "the US Coordinated Framework for Biotechnology Regulation is based principally in political criteria, not solidly based in science as its proponents claimed."
He graphically explains how if the law "had been obeyed there's little likelihood that any GE food would have entered the nation's kitchens", the FDA has itself " been willfully violating it (the law) for two decades" and "The FDA's policy on GE foods has survived only through widespread confusion". Furthermore, "in addressing the risks posed by genetic engineering,there has been regulatory irresponsibility on a global scale".
Additionally "in its handling of the Pusztai incident, the UK government demonstrated it also desired the disabling of research that could damage the image of biotech - and was just as willing as the US government to effect this in a ruthless manner. Accordingly, although Pusztai's research had been funded by the Scottish government, and was supposed to establish a sounder protocol for future studies on GE food, when it produced embarrassing results, the central goverment shut it down and made sure those engineered potatoes would yield no further distasteful discoveries."
That "due to a malfunction of the American media,false notions about GE foods continue to prevail. Even though the managers of mass communication have been given incontestable evidence of government fraud that's a reckless gamble with public health, they've consistently failed to report it"
This book leaves no doubt whatsoever that the American population, and those in other nations, are now directly standing into danger. The words of 2 American Presidents seem rather apt:
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people". John F. Kennedy
“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.” Abraham Lincoln
Steve Druker points out that "what Monsanto wanted (and demanded) from the FDA was a policy that projected the illusion that its foods were being responsibly regulated but that in reality imposed no regulatory requirements at all". That "the US Coordinated Framework for Biotechnology Regulation is based principally in political criteria, not solidly based in science as its proponents claimed."
He graphically explains how if the law "had been obeyed there's little likelihood that any GE food would have entered the nation's kitchens", the FDA has itself " been willfully violating it (the law) for two decades" and "The FDA's policy on GE foods has survived only through widespread confusion". Furthermore, "in addressing the risks posed by genetic engineering,there has been regulatory irresponsibility on a global scale".
Additionally "in its handling of the Pusztai incident, the UK government demonstrated it also desired the disabling of research that could damage the image of biotech - and was just as willing as the US government to effect this in a ruthless manner. Accordingly, although Pusztai's research had been funded by the Scottish government, and was supposed to establish a sounder protocol for future studies on GE food, when it produced embarrassing results, the central goverment shut it down and made sure those engineered potatoes would yield no further distasteful discoveries."
That "due to a malfunction of the American media,false notions about GE foods continue to prevail. Even though the managers of mass communication have been given incontestable evidence of government fraud that's a reckless gamble with public health, they've consistently failed to report it"
This book leaves no doubt whatsoever that the American population, and those in other nations, are now directly standing into danger. The words of 2 American Presidents seem rather apt:
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people". John F. Kennedy
“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.” Abraham Lincoln
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Barrie Sharrock
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent but worrying read about a very murky subject.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2015Verified Purchase
I was already sceptical about GM, even when I thought that the products had been tested! Now that I know that they have not, and that bad results are already happening I am convinced that GM foods should be stopped NOW! Sadly the genie is out of the lamp and cannot be returned, but surely any further deployment of genetically modified crops should undergo immediate severe testing before the greedy,moral-less Big Agri and Big Pharma cause any more problems. I see that, already, weeds have become RoundUp resistant and so the producers on the GM seeds are, instead of stopping, adding extra weedkiller resistance to the crops which will surely be transferred to the weeds. What will we do then? Sadly, the United States regulatory authorities are behaving in an astonishingly corrupt fashion, and many alleged scientists involved in GM have abandoned basic scientific principles. Money in brown envelopes?
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George's grandaughter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2015Verified Purchase
Excellent book which lays out the truth about GMO and the risks it poses for human health and for the environment. It exposes the disgraceful lies of the GM industry and of the FDA who, inexplicably, support the process of misinformation and lack of effective regulation.
Everyone should read this book in order to educate themselves on the ways in which GM poses severe risks and on how remiss the US government and the EU have been and still are in addressing these risks.
It gives several examples of harm to people and to agriculture which have already been documented by ethical, eminent scientists and how the FDA and the GM 'scientists' have tried to discredit full and reliable studies which demonstrate the damage which can be caused.
It also gives an outline of the science involved in producing GM organisms and describes why it is impossible to control outcomes.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the future of the GM industry and in the future of the world generally. It is one of the greatest scandals of our modern age.
Everyone should read this book in order to educate themselves on the ways in which GM poses severe risks and on how remiss the US government and the EU have been and still are in addressing these risks.
It gives several examples of harm to people and to agriculture which have already been documented by ethical, eminent scientists and how the FDA and the GM 'scientists' have tried to discredit full and reliable studies which demonstrate the damage which can be caused.
It also gives an outline of the science involved in producing GM organisms and describes why it is impossible to control outcomes.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the future of the GM industry and in the future of the world generally. It is one of the greatest scandals of our modern age.
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Scout
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this superb book and spread the word
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 15, 2015Verified Purchase
This lucid, organised, well-argued, evidence-based book is a necessary read for anyone who values the food they and their loved ones eat. I cannot rate it highly enough, as it courageously exposes corporates, governments, the FDA, the bio-tech industry, scientists and respected scientific institutions and publications for their deliberate obfuscation of the dangers of genetically engineered food and products such as herbicides and insecticides. The astounding ignorance of the bio-tech industry on the possible environmental dangers is breathtaking; the willingness of experts in this field (as well as prominent members of the judiciary, for example) to publish lies and to deny logic, truth and real scientific method for the sake, I assume, of money, power and job security is depressing and shocking. The truth is that GE food harbours potential disasters. There are accounts of some of them that have already occurred. The writer describes clearly for the lay person what the GE methods are and why the results are unpredictable and potentially dangerous. The reader learns about things that even bio-tech students are not taught thoroughly-Intelligent people are being reassured about safety and testing while in fact no proper, adequate testing is being done by the industry, for example. I have always had an instinctive distrust of GM/GE and saw the basic illogicality of anyone saying that a method that has infinite combinations is and will always be safe. This book has given me the information and arguments to understand the process itself and the very primitive way commerce and science are playing with the genome and nature while boasting of their "precision". After the exposure and discussions, Stephen Druker offers other ways of improving food and access to nutrition that would benefit all peoples. Finally, he gives detailed notes and references, as well as websites for the reader to follow up details. If you read this book, and I urge you to do so, I guarantee you will want to discuss it with your friends to spread the word so that we can act on governments, etc, to end this irresponsible, destructive commerce.
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Ossian
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am now buying the dead-tree version so I can easily refer to it when I rebut the rubbish written ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2015Verified Purchase
I bought the Kindle edition. To my surprise, having read the prose of lawyers before, it is an enthralling tale, well-told. I am now buying the dead-tree version so I can easily refer to it when I rebut the rubbish written by the true-believers in GE.
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