We have to buckle up when we drive.

It’s the law.

We are no longer allowed to take scissors or pocketknives in our hand luggage when we fly.

It’s the law.

Vehicles must fulfill a range of safety requirements to be allowed on the streets.

Fast food shops even label coffee cups to warn consumers that the content is hot.

But if that rice you and your family are eating contains the human genes of your next-door neighbor, well, that’s just none of your business.

We don’t have label laws in the United States, covering Genetic Engineering. When you’re eating it, you don’t know it. I assure you, you’re eating it. (Assuming that is….that you eat)

California-based Ventria Bioscience produces the rice; permit applications (APHIS numbers 06-278-01r, 06-278-02r and 06-285-02r)

3,200 acres of the modified rice is being planted in Junction City, Kansas.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the planting permit. The agency said it received 20,034 comments about the Ventria project.

29 in favor

20,005 against

Initially Ventria Bioscience had sought to have this Genetically Modified Rice, which is engineered using Human Genes, to be grown within the state of Missouri. However Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. a beer maker and rice buyer in Missouri, threatened to boycott all rice from the state of Missouri, should Ventria’s rice be planted in their state.

Anheuser-Busch’s concerns were the same as so many others – that this crop of engineered variety would spread, polluting the non-engineered, and the wild plants.

So the plan for Missouri was abandoned, and Junction City, Kansas gets the problem.

The concerns of pollution by genetically engineered plants were substantiated in Arkansas the very same day that the USDA gave the green light to Ventria Bioscience for their genetically engineered rice. On that day, it was announced that rice seed in Arkansas had been found to be contaminated by an entirely different – not approved for human consumption – genetically engineered strain of rice seed. It literally spreads with the wind, for miles and miles. There is already widespread contamination of rice in the U.S. with yet another genetically modified strain.

Actually, contamination is pretty common. Even when they ‘aren’t approved for human consumption’. Here’s a few, compliments of the GM Contamination Register:

8th May 2007
Brazil – GM cotton growing spontaneously in Parana State

30th April 2007
Genetically engineered maize enters EU illegally.

27th April 2007
Unauthorized GM in rice protein for animal feed.

5th March 2007
USA- US Department of Agriculture stops planting and distribution of contaminated long grain rice.

7th February 2007
Kuwait – Corn Contamination revealed.

26th January 2007
Japan – Noodles and rice flour from China Contaminated with Bt63 GM rice (hmmm….I remember discovering this Bt63 also in PET FOOD during the recent Pet Food RECALLS that killed and sickened thousands of pets all over the United States- otherwise known as the largest pet food recall in United States History)

23rd January 2007
Greece – maize seed contamination incident, 2004

23rd January 2007: update
Syngenta agrees to pay US EPA $1.5million for Bt10 maize contamination incident

23rd January 2007: update
‘Error of judgement’ initial finding in New Zealand sweet corn contamination

Once again, I must question the motives of a regulatory agency that would actually allow such crops to be planted in open fields in the first place!

According to Ventria, the rice has been genetically modified to produce proteins found in human breast milk, saliva and tears. Genetically engineered rice lines producing recombinant human lactoferrin, lysozyme or serum albumin found exclusively within its seeds.

Ventria’s genetically engineered rice would allow the ‘cheap’ production of immune proteins for a pharmaceutical product to lessen the severity and duration of diarrhea in infants and children.

It is even seeking FDA approval to add the protein to foods, such as yogurt and granola.

Rodents are traditionally used for important experiments, as they are morphology and biochemistry resembling to humans.

Leading expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute, Doctor of Biology Irina Yermakova, conducted an experiment on rats, and rat babies.

The rats conduct seriously changed. They became nervous, anxious and even aggressive when fed the Genetically Modified Ingredients. The researcher also discovered abnormal pathologic changes in the liver and testicles of the rats.

The descendants of the experimental rats fed with GM Ingredients also revealed serious matter. These alien components turned out to be lethal for the little rats.

When generally all rats of one litter survive, over 55 percent of experimental rats’ babies were born dead or died soon after they came to the world. Their death was agonizing, their intestines swollen.

Other new-born rats had very poor health. At the same time, mothers did not actively reveal their motherly instinct.

Similar experiments were conducted on other animals and fixed approximately the same results.

Do we really want to give this to our children, our infants, as Medicine?

Here’s a study, on children, and on mice by children! GM Foods were taken out of many schools after this one.

According to Ventria’s website - The effort to attract Ventria to Kansas involved a number of players, including:

Governor Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky
Kansas Department of Commerce
Junction City and Geary County
Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC)
KansasBIO
Kansas State University
Kansas Farm Bureau