Gilles-Éric Séralini

Gilles-Éric Séralini is a French scientist who has been a professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen since 1991. He is best known for publishing research concluding that genetically modified food is unsafe for consumption; one such study, published in September 2012 in Food and Chemical Toxicology prompted many headlines about the dangers of Roundup Ready corn and the Roundup herbicide. The study was subject to considerable criticism by members of the scientific community and was eventually retracted^[3][4] in what has become known as the Seralini affair. On 24 June 2014 the study was republished by Environmental Sciences Europe.^[5]

Early life

Seralini was born on 23 August 1960 in Annaba, Algeria (then known as Bône). His father was a telecommunications technician and his mother was a schoolteacher.^[6] When Seralini was five years old, his younger brother, Marc, suffered a serious vaccine injury, with regard to which Séralini has said he has been "marked for life."^[2] His family first settled in Thonon-les-Bains, Haute Savoie, and then Nice, France. Seralini obtained his baccalaureate degree at the age of 16.

Scientific career

In 1987, Seralini obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Montpellier II. He then did four years of research at, among other places, the University of Western Ontario and Laval University Medical Center, doing research on corticosteroid-binding globulin, before being appointed a professor at the University of Caen in June 1991, a position he has held ever since. The general area of his lab's research focuses on the endocrine system, in particular the enzyme aromatase, and his lab has synthesized a number of aromatase inhibitors using equine aromatase as a model.^[7] In addition to the safety of genetically modified food, Seralini's more recent research has focused on the effects of the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup on human cells and the enzyme aromatase in vitro,^[8] as well as rat testicular cells.^[9] In general, this in vitro research has concluded that Roundup (the formulation with adjuvants, not just glyphosate) is toxic to cells in a dish, as well as that it is an endocrine disruptor. The cell lines tested include HUVEC, HEK cells, and placental JEG-3 cells,^[10][11][12] as well as HepG2 cells.^[8] In 2013, the Seralini lab published a study that examines the effects of Cry1ab and Cry1ac insecticidal Bt toxins, as well as their effects in conjunction with Roundup, on HEK cells.^[13] His research has been published in the Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry, the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.

In 2014, Seralini et al. published a study claiming that pesticides were more toxic than regulatory bodies had previously thought.^[14] The study prompted Ralf Reski, one of the editors of BioMed Research International, the journal in which it was published, to resign. Reski said, "I do not want to be connected to a journal that provides [Séralini] a forum for such kind of agitation."^[15]

Debate

In May 2013, shortly before a debate was scheduled to take place on the topic of genetically modified foods, held by the Cato Institute, both Professor Seralini and fellow anti-GMO activist Jeffrey M. Smith withdrew from the debate, with Smith disapproving of the planned inclusion of molecular biologist Kevin Folta and Seralini accusing Jon Entine, who organized the debate's panel, of libel.^[16]

Selected publications

Scientific papers

• Almadhidi, J.; Seralini, G. E.; Fresnel, J.; Silberzahn, P.; Gaillard, J. L. (1995). "Immunohistochemical localization of cytochrome P450 aromatase in equine gonads". The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society 43 (6): 571–577. doi:10.1177/43.6.7769228. PMID 7769228. 
• Le Curieux-Belfond, O.; Moslemi, S.; Mathieu, M.; Séralini, G. E. (2001). "Androgen metabolism in oyster Crassostrea gigas: Evidence for 17β-HSD activities and characterization of an aromatase-like activity inhibited by pharmacological compounds and a marine pollutant". The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 78 (4): 359–366. doi:10.1016/S0960-0760(01)00109-1. PMID 11717006. 
• Lemazurier, E.; Sourdaine, P.; Nativelle, C. L.; Plainfossé, B.; Séralini, G. E. (2001). "Aromatase gene expression in the stallion". Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 178 (1–2): 133–139. doi:10.1016/S0303-7207(01)00435-X. PMID 11403902. 

Books

• Séralini, Gilles-Éric (2004). Ces OGM qui changent le monde. Flammarion Publishing. ISBN 2080800620. 
• Séralini, Gilles-Éric (2006). Après nous le déluge ?. Flammarion Publishing. ISBN 2082105490. 

References