Study Examines Effects of Glyphosate aka Roundup

Glyphosate, often sold under the brand name of Roundup, is the world's most widely used weed-killer. While Glyphosate has approval from regulatory bodies worldwide, there are growing concerns about its possible adverse health effects.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as 'probably carcinogenic in humans'.Surveys of populations in Europe show that most people have glyphosate in their urine. Humans ingest glyphosate residues mainly from foods including cereals (such as wheat, oats, barley, rye), which have been ‘desiccated’ with glyphosate-based herbicide just prior to harvest and Roundup-tolerant genetically-modified (GMO) crops like sugar beets, corn, canola (rape), and soy.

A study published in 2014 by the US Geological Survey found that across 38 US states there was glyphosate or its degradation product in most rivers, streams, ditches, and the output of water treatment plants sampled.

Dr Michael Antoniou, based at a leading London University, is using Qlucore's Omics Explorer on a series of studies looking at the effects of ultra-low doses of glyphosate on gene expression profiles (transcriptomes), protein profiles (proteomes), and small molecule metabolite profiles (metabolomes) in rats and cell cultures.

Dr Antoniou's research group employs cell and molecular analytical approaches to investigate transcriptional and post-transcriptional events that regulate gene expression including in response to various environmental stimuli, including environmentally relevant doses of key pesticides and other chemical pollutants.

Read the full report here.