Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted…

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.

This was an interesting read. Steven Druker, filed a lawsuit against the FDA The book, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth, features a foreword by the renowned primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, hailing it as “without doubt one of the most important books of the last 50 years”.The book is the result of more than 15 years of intensive research and investigation by Druker, who came to prominence for initiating a lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that forced it to divulge its files on GM foods. Those files revealed that GM foods first achieved commercialisation in 1992 only because the FDA:• Covered up the extensive warnings of its own scientists about their dangers.• Lied about the facts.• And then violated federal food safety law by permitting these foods to be marketed without having been proven safe through standard testing.The book points out that if the FDA had heeded its own experts’ advice and publicly acknowledged their warnings that GM foods entailed higher risks than their conventional counterparts, the GM food venture would have imploded and never gained traction anywhere.I was completely shocked by what I read.

I have just finished soldiering my way through this, and like other readers I have been shocked by what I have learned. It's a long book, with some repetitions of material and conclusions, but the level of detail is incredible. I was slightly confused by a couple of referenced to Appendix D which doesn't exist (in the Kindle format, at least) and for that matter neither does Appendix C - never mind.The book tells in long but readable form the sorry story of the history of GM food in the US and elsewhere. It's stunning to learn that the marketing and sale of such foods is effectively illegal in the US, and not much better elsewhere, and equally astonishing that this situation has persisted for so long.I liked the sections on how exactly these organisms are manipulated, because armed with this information one is far better placed to deal with the rest of the information in the book, and also better armed and informed about how and why these things are just so scary and unproven.The support of so many scientific organisations for something based on unsound information and research (or indeed a complete absence of such) is also surprising and shocking. But the details are there, and therefore I have no reason to believe that Mr Druker is not giving us the truth. Also amazing is the degree to which so many scientists have been ready to align themselves with the biotech industry when the evidence is just not there.Personally, until I read this book I wasn't particularly in favour of GM, but then that was mostly just based on an idea that maybe we had overstretched ourselves in trying to do what we are doing. The battle with evolution in herbicide resitant crops, for example, an endeavor on which even King Canute would have been reluctant to embark. But now... now I just can't believe what we are opening ourselves up to. I will now go out of my way to avoid GMO, and to spread the word on how and why it's a technology that we simply must abandon.Read the book, get informed, change your life.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.