Cited by 222Genetically Modified Organisms ResearchAgricultural safety and regulationsCarcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment

New analysis of a rat feeding study with a genetically modified maize reveals signs of hepatorenal toxicity

Séralini, Gilles-Eric, Cellier, Dominique, de Vendomois, Joël Spiroux·2007·Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Abstract

Health risk assessment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cultivated for food or feed is under debate throughout the world, and very little data have been published on mid- or long-term toxicological studies with mammals. One of these studies performed under the responsibility of Monsanto Company with a transgenic corn MON863 has been subjected to questions from regulatory reviewers in Europe, where it was finally approved in 2005. This necessitated a new assessment of kidney pathological findings, and the results remained controversial. An Appeal Court action in Germany (Münster) allowed public access in June 2005 to all the crude data from this 90-day rat-feeding study. We independently re-analyzed these data. Appropriate statistics were added, such as a multivariate analysis of the growth curves, and for biochemical parameters comparisons between GMO-treated rats and the controls fed with an equivalent normal diet, and separately with six reference diets with different compositions. We observed that after the consumption of MON863, rats showed slight but dose-related significant variations in growth for both sexes, resulting in 3.3% decrease in weight for males and 3.7% increase for females. Chemistry measurements reveal signs of hepatorenal toxicity, marked also by differential sensitivities in males and females. Triglycerides increased by 24-40% in females (either at week 14, dose 11% or at week 5, dose 33%, respectively); urine phosphorus and sodium excretions diminished in males by 31-35% (week 14, dose 33%) for the most important results significantly linked to the treatment in comparison to seven diets tested. Longer experiments are essential in order to indicate the real nature and extent of the possible pathology; with the present data it cannot be concluded that GM corn MON863 is a safe product.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s00244-006-0149-5

Cites

23 of 23 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Detailed analyses have revealed alterations in kidney and liver functions that may be signs of early chronic diet intoxication, possibly explained at least in part by pesticide residues in GM feed.

    “Detailed analyses have revealed alterations in kidney and liver functions that may be the signs of early chronic diet intoxication, possibly explained at least in part by pesticide residues in the GM feed (Séralini et al., 2007;Spiroux de Vendômois et al., 2009).”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Séralini, G.-E., Cellier, D., & de Vendomois, J. S.
Affiliations
Laboratoire d'Informatique, du Traitement de l'Information et des Systèmes (FR)
Venue
Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
Published
2007-03-13
Volume
52
Issue
4
Pages
596-602
ISSN
  • 0090-4341 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-0703
OpenAlex
W2128203876
Cited by
222
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 25
FWCI
19.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
Funders
Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Genetically Modified Organisms Research
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Agricultural safety and regulations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Carcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment
Keywords
transgenic maize, MON863, rat feeding study, hepatorenal toxicity, kidney pathology, growth retardation, sex differences, triglycerides, urinary sodium, health risk assessment, data reanalysis
MeSH terms
Animals, Body Weight, Zea mays, Diet, Female, Kidney, Liver, Male, Sex Factors, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Plants, Genetically Modified, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review