Effects of feeding calves genetically modified corn bt11: a clinico-biochemical study.
Genetically modified corn Bt11 is insect-resistant and expresses Cry1Ab toxin, an insecticidal protein, in kernels. Although Bt11 corn is considered safe based on animal performance, there are no reports available on the clinico-biochemical effects of feeding it to cattle. In this study, we evaluated the effects of feeding Bt11 to calves, using blood and ruminal clinico-biochemical parameters. Our three-month-long feeding experiment demonstrated that calves (n=6), fed with a ration containing 43.3% of Bt11 corn kernels as dry matter, did not develop any discernible clinical, hematological, biochemical, or ruminal abnormalities as compared with control calves (n=6) fed non-Bt11 corn. The results suggest that the transgenic Bt11 has no negative clinico-biochemical effects on calves.
Shimada
Nobuaki
N
Safety Research Team, National Institute of Animal Health, Ibaraki, Japan.
Murata
Hideo
H
Mikami
Osamu
O
Yoshioka
Miyako
M
Guruge
Keerthi S
KS
Yamanaka
Noriko
N
Nakajima
Yasuyuki
Y
Miyazaki
Shigeru
S
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000662:veterinary; D001835:Body Weight; D002417:Cattle / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D004906:Erythrocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000032:analysis; D030841:Food, Genetically Modified; D006400:Hematocrit / Q000662:veterinary; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012417:Rumen / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D006454:Hemoglobins; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase