Many of my friends and family members have struggled with fertility issues.

Whether the cause is hormone disrupting chemicals, the pill, or aging mothers, the issue of infertility is complex and probably compounded by a variety of factors. According to a new study, you can add genetically engineered corn to the list of causes of infertility.

An Austrian study released in November 2008 has found that GM corn has a damaging effect upon the reproductive system of mice.

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In one of the very few long-term nutrition studies conducted so far with an approved GM product (2), it became apparent over a period of 20 weeks that the fertility of GM corn fed mice was seriously impaired, with fewer offspring than mice fed on non-GM equivalent material. In a multi-generational trial, mice fed with GM maize had fewer offspring in the third and fourth generations, and this difference was statistically significant. Mice fed with GM-free corn reproduced more rapidly. In a series of carefully-controlled trials, it was also discovered that there was a statistically significant decrease in litter weight in the third and fourth litters of mice in the GM-fed group as compared to the control group.

This study’s results correspond with the results of similar research on GM soya by Irina Ermakova in 2005.

…rats fed on a diet including GM soya produced offspring which were weak and which had a much higher mortality rate than rats fed on a non-GM diet (4). She also found that when both male and female animals were fed on GM soy they became effectively sterile and produced no offspring.

Such results demonstrate that genetically modified foods are not safe for human consumption, and that the approval process is inadequate. We should not be genetically modifiying anything, especially our food. Messing with mother nature at a genetic level is dangerous. We need to put the personal health of consumers over the interests of GM corporations, like Monsanto. I don’t want to eat frankenfood!