9. Genetic engineering for the synthesis of animal hormones that stimulate growth and milk production is harmful to animals, humans and farms.
- In a report issued in mid-January 1999 Health Canada's veterinary experts rejected Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (known as rBGH or rBST) as unsafe, although it has been approved for use in the U.S. since late 1993, citing an increased risk of mastitis, infertility and lameness, and a reduction in life span, in cows treated with the genetically engineered drug. However rBGH remains under review (Ballentine).
- U.S. milk production already exceeds the demand for it and rBST may force small dairy farmers out of business. Sheldon Krimsky, chair of the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University has said that. "It's been demonstrated by economic analysis that [BST] is likely to displace small farmers," (Pinholster
).
- Samuel S. Epstein, a professor of occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has suggested a link between IGF-I-- insulin like growth factor-I, the secondary hormone stimulated by BST use--and breast cancer in humans. Epstein warns that IGF-I induces malignant transformation of normal human breast epithelial cells (Pinholster
).
- Pigs injected with porcine growth hormone are just one example of current efforts to create transgenic livestock. Compared to conventional pork, meat from pigs containing porcine growth hormone may provide more protein and less fat. However studies have found that porcine growth hormone-transgenic pigs tend to suffer a litany of health ailments, including gastric ulcers, arthritis, and a shortened lifespan (
Ballentine).
- The transgenic salmon was engineered with an arctic flounder gene for increased cold tolerance. However, this transgenic salmon grows ten times as fast as normal salmon because the genetic modification resulted in an increased activity of the salmon's own growth hormone gene (MacKenzie).
- The genetic engineering and inbreeding of domestic turkeys due to a great demand for more and more "white" meat has resulted in an adult male bird so large it can weigh up to 80 pounds, four times the weight of his wild counterpart. This increase in size and the weight of his massive pectoralis muscle, the "turkey breast," which often means the bird is too heavy to stand on his own two feet. Unable to stand, he squats on the shed floor, frequently being pecked by other birds, which may lead to his early death. This abnormal size also makes natural mating impossible and virtually all turkey breeding is done through artificial insemination (Perry).