Scientists react to republished Séralini GMO maize rat study

Originally posted at Genetic Literacy Project.

Scientists around the world react as a controversial animal study on genetically modified (GM) corn and glyphosate-based herbicide that had been published and then retracted has been republished in expanded form in another academic journal.

The study, “Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize” by a group of French scientists led by Gilles-Eric Séralini, claims that a Monsanto herbicide-tolerant GM corn and RoundUp, Monsanto’s brand name for the herbicide, caused severe diseases and tumor growths in rats. It was republished today in the open-access journal Environmental Sciences Europe (SpringerOpen).

The study was originally published in Food and Chemical Toxicology (Elsevier) in September 2012. It met strong criticism from the scientific community almost immediately, with concerns ranging from the validity of the findings to the proper use of animals in the study. In November 2013, Food and Chemical Toxicology retracted the study.

In the previous publication, Séralini and colleagues faced immense pressure from the scientific community to release the raw data collected for the study. They did not do so then, but in the study’s current republication and expanded revision, the raw data has been made available.

Here, the GLP posts a collection of the responses from scientists worldwide to the study and raw data release. We will post more reactions—critical and in support of the findings–as they become available.

Read the reactions at Genetic Literacy Project.