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Genetic modification

"Frankenfood" Controversy Spawns World's First Gene-Spliced Plant Character in "Rustle the Leaf" Environmental Comics (press release)

Monday, July 25, 2005
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)
Tags: genetic modification, health news, Natural News


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Citing growing concerns about potential environmental and health risks from food-related use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) -- often referred to as "Frankenfood" -- the creators of "Rustle the Leaf" environmental comics have introduced a GMO corn plant named "GEEMO" to the strip’s already quirky cast.

According to Rustle the Leaf creator and co-writer Dave Ponce, there are some disturbing realities expressed in the look and personality of the new character. "Like other genetically modified plants, 'GEEMO' seems fairly normal," says Ponce, "however, we've created him with a sort of robotic personality to connote his spliced-and-cloned pedigree, and thrown in a slight hint of schizophrenia. It's a reflection of concerns about potential latent, long term side-effects of using GMOs in the environment and in consumer food products," says Ponce.

Especially troubling to Ponce and his co-writer (the strip's artist) Dan Wright is the lack of consumer awareness for the whole issue. "There’s been a concerted effort to keep consumers in the dark," says Ponce. "Most consumers are unaware that over 50% of the processed foods in grocery stores right now, including breakfast cereal for children, include genetically modified plant ingredients. In Europe and Japan, labeling foods that contain GMO ingredients is required, but not in the U.S. And it’s no accident; it's the result of sustained, well-funded lobbying efforts by those who profit from the sale of GMO technologies and end-use products," says Ponce.

Ponce and Wright believe the introduction of their GEEMO character helps create awareness and causes the issue to "stick." "That's the great thing about comics," says Ponce. "People remember a punch line longer than they’d ever remember a bullet point from a report." Ponce says that GEEMO will not be a regular cast member, but will make appearances as GMO issues arise. The strip’s main characters are a leaf (Rustle), an acorn sprout (Rooty), a Dandelion seed (Dandy), and a drop of water (Paige).

Rustle the Leaf is a nationally distributed environmental comic strip, which has received widespread acclaim from environmentalists, educators and members of the scientific community. The comics appear weekly at http://www.rustletheleaf.com.


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About the author:Mike Adams (aka the "Health Ranger") is a best selling author (#1 best selling science book on Amazon.com) and a globally recognized scientific researcher in clean foods. He serves as the founding editor of NaturalNews.com and the lab science director of an internationally accredited (ISO 17025) analytical laboratory known as CWC Labs. There, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for achieving extremely high accuracy in the analysis of toxic elements in unknown water samples using ICP-MS instrumentation. Adams is also highly proficient in running liquid chromatography, ion chromatography and mass spectrometry time-of-flight analytical instrumentation.

Adams is a person of color whose ancestors include Africans and Native American Indians. He's also of Native American heritage, which he credits as inspiring his "Health Ranger" passion for protecting life and nature against the destruction caused by chemicals, heavy metals and other forms of pollution.

Adams is the founder and publisher of the open source science journal Natural Science Journal, the author of numerous peer-reviewed science papers published by the journal, and the author of the world's first book that published ICP-MS heavy metals analysis results for foods, dietary supplements, pet food, spices and fast food. The book is entitled Food Forensics and is published by BenBella Books.

In his laboratory research, Adams has made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing rice protein products imported from Asia to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium and tungsten. Adams was the first food science researcher to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods. He also discovered over 11 ppm lead in imported mangosteen powder, and led an industry-wide voluntary agreement to limit heavy metals in rice protein products.

In addition to his lab work, Adams is also the (non-paid) executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (CWC), an organization that redirects 100% of its donations receipts to grant programs that teach children and women how to grow their own food or vastly improve their nutrition. Through the non-profit CWC, Adams also launched Nutrition Rescue, a program that donates essential vitamins to people in need. Click here to see some of the CWC success stories.

With a background in science and software technology, Adams is the original founder of the email newsletter technology company known as Arial Software. Using his technical experience combined with his love for natural health, Adams developed and deployed the content management system currently driving NaturalNews.com. He also engineered the high-level statistical algorithms that power SCIENCE.naturalnews.com, a massive research resource featuring over 10 million scientific studies.

Adams is well known for his incredibly popular consumer activism video blowing the lid on fake blueberries used throughout the food supply. He has also exposed "strange fibers" found in Chicken McNuggets, fake academic credentials of so-called health "gurus," dangerous "detox" products imported as battery acid and sold for oral consumption, fake acai berry scams, the California raw milk raids, the vaccine research fraud revealed by industry whistleblowers and many other topics.

Adams has also helped defend the rights of home gardeners and protect the medical freedom rights of parents. Adams is widely recognized to have made a remarkable global impact on issues like GMOs, vaccines, nutrition therapies, human consciousness.

In addition to his activism, Adams is an accomplished musician who has released over a dozen popular songs covering a variety of activism topics.

Click here to read a more detailed bio on Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, at HealthRanger.com.

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