THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE
Dear friends and colleagues,
Re: Reduced fitness levels in Daphnia fed Roundup-Ready soybean
Scientists from GenØk – Centre for Biosafety and the Arctic University of Norway have recently published a paper demonstrating reduced fitness levels in Daphnia magna fed Roundup-Ready soybean.
The water flea, Daphnia magna, is representative of farmed organisms in aquaculture as well as an indicator of ecological effects. The scientists conducted life cycle feeding trials in D. magna and demonstrated significant differences in fitness measured as survival, growth and fecundity, attributable to soy type.
Overall, feed produced from organic soybeans resulted in the highest fitness in the model organism, and animals fed Roundup-Ready soy consistently performed less well, compared to animals fed either conventional or organic soybeans.
They conclude that the differences observed may be attributed to residues of glyphosate herbicide present in the GM soy or to other nutritional differences attributable to agriculture practice. As such possible effects of herbicide residues have previously been largely ignored in risk assessment procedures for GM plants, the scientists recommend that this should be specifically addressed in future feeding trials.
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Aquaculture Nutrition 2014, doi: 10.1111/anu.12199
Life cycle fitness differences in Daphnia magna fed Roundup-Ready soybean or conventional soybean or organic soybean
M. Cuhra1,2, T. Traavik1,2 and T. Bøhn1
1 GenØk – Centre for Biosafety, The Science Park, Tromsø, Norway; 2 Faculty of Health Sciences UiT, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
A lifelong feeding study with soybean from different production systems was carried out in the crustacean Daphnia magna (water flea), an acknowledged model organism for ecotoxicological studies. Experimental diets were prepared with soybean meal from different agriculture production systems: (i) genetically modified Roundup-Ready soy (Glyphosate-Tolerant), (ii) conventional soy and (iii) soy from organic agriculture (agriculture with neither synthetic pesticides nor synthetic fertilizers). Overall, feed produced from organic soybeans resulted in the highest fitness (higher survival, better growth and fecundity) in the model organism. Animals fed Roundup-Ready soybean consistently performed less well compared to animals fed either conventional or organic soybeans. We conclude that accumulation of herbicide residues in Roundup-Ready soy and related nutritional differences between the soy types may have caused the observed fitness differences. The results accentuate the need for further research clarifying qualitative aspects, including potential large-scale consequences for food and feed quality, of this dominant crop.
KEY WORDS: agricultural practice, Daphnia magna ecological indicator organism, glyphosate residues, genetically modified soy, organic soybean, transgenic cultivar risk-assessment
Received 7 October 2013; accepted 6 March 2014
Correspondence: M. Cuhra, GenØk – Centre for Biosafety, The Science Park, PO Box 6418, 9294 Tromsø, Norway. E-mail: marek.cuhra@gmail.com