A 90-day dietary toxicity study of genetically modified rice T1C-1 expressing Cry1C protein in Sprague Dawley rats

PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e52507. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052507. Epub 2012 Dec 27.

Abstract

In a 90-day study, Sprague Dawley rats were fed transgenic T1C-1 rice expressing Cry1C protein and were compared with rats fed non-transgenic parental rice Minghui 63 and rats fed a basal diet. No adverse effects on animal behavior or weight gain were observed during the study. Blood samples were collected and analyzed, and standard hematological and biochemical parameters were compared. A few of these parameters were found to be significantly different, but were within the normal reference intervals for rats of this breed and age, and were thus not considered to be treatment-related. Following sacrifice, a large number of organs were weighed, and macroscopic and histopathological examinations were performed with no changes reported. The aim of this study was to use a known animal model to determine the safety of the genetically modified (GM) rice T1C-1. The results showed no adverse or toxic effects due to T1C-1 rice when tested in this 90-day study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacillus thuringiensis / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Blood Chemical Analysis
  • Body Weight
  • Diet / adverse effects*
  • Eating
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Female
  • Food Safety*
  • Food, Genetically Modified / toxicity*
  • Gene Expression
  • Hematologic Tests
  • Male
  • Organ Size
  • Oryza / genetics*
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Time Factors
  • Toxicity Tests*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by Shanghai Agricultural Science Committee Key Foundation of China, grant no.6-4 (2009) & 1-8 (2011), Shanghai Agricultural Science Key Research Foundation, grant no.1-8 (2011), The Public Research Platform Foundation of SSTC, grant no. 10DZ2294103, the National Science & Technology Support Programme, grant no. 2010BAK69B18, and the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, grant no. 2012 (9). The authors also thank Experimental Animal Centre of Fudan University and Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, especially Dr. Weiwei Qiao, Dr. Xianzhe Zhao, and Dr. Guolan Liu. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.