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Scientists are criticizing a study that said laboratory rats developed tumors after they ate genetically modified corn. The research appears in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology and includes pictures of rats with large tumors. The study said the animals developed the growths after two years of being fed genetically changed maize. Gilles-Eric Seralini from the University of Caen in French was the lead author. "GM foods have been evaluated in an extremely poor and lax way with much less analysis than we have done," he says. Several French scientific organizations and the European Food Safety Authority disputed the study. Alan McHughen of the University of California, Riverside, is a genetic expert with the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. "First of all, the authors of the study used a line of rats that was genetically predisposed to form tumors in the first place. So right off the bat the whole study was suspect." At the University of California, Davis, toxicologist Alison van Eenennaam suggested that the study was an attempt to scare the public. "I think it was a cynical ploy to exploit the scientific process to create fear in the minds of consumers." Even opponents of genetic engineering agree there were some problems with the study methods. Michael Hansen with the group Consumers Union says there should be more long-term studies -- and more rules for genetically modified foods. | 
