Page 20 - Winter2018

Glyphosate A 2018 study conducted in Poland showed that dopamine and epinephrine; thyroid hormone;

has been glyphosate exposure at a relatively low dose the B vitamin folate; and the skin tanning agent
(0.25 millimolar, 40mg/L) induced significant melanin. All of these can be expected to be
shown to modifications in the methylation pattern on the deficient in the context of chronic glyphosate
induce DNA of white blood cells. DNA was globally exposure to the gut microbiome.
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alterations in hypomethylated (less than normally methyl- Make no mistake about it: glyphosate is
ated) in the presence of glyphosate, and, as special. Researchers have examined over one
methylation we’ve seen, this can lead to a transformation thousand different “glyphosate analogues” that
patterns in into a pluripotent tumor-like state. Glyphosate have much in common with glyphosate in terms
the genome also caused hypermethylation of the promoter of the general molecular shape, the charge distri-
bution and the biophysical properties—yet none
region of TP53, a well-known tumor suppres-
that are sor gene. Such hypermethylation has the effect of them work nearly as well as glyphosate does
consistent of suppressing expression of the gene—that is, to kill weeds via disruption of the shikimate
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with enhancing the likelihood of cancer. A combina- pathway. It appears that very minor pertur-
bations in the structure result in dramatically
tion of global hypomethylation along with hy-
progression permethylation of the control elements of tumor reduced potency. What is it that sets glyphosate
toward suppressor genes is a pattern that is commonly apart from all these other molecules?
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cancer. observed in cancer cells. I think the answer is obvious: only glypho-
Methionine and folate are essential for DNA sate is an amino acid analogue of glycine.
methylation. Glyphosate’s adverse effects on gut Glycine is one of the twenty-two coding amino
microbes can be predicted to lead to deficiencies acids that are assembled as peptide sequences to
in both nutrients. Human cells are unable to produce proteins according to the famous DNA
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synthesize methionine from inorganic sulfur code. Glycine is in fact the simplest of the amino
and so we rely on our gut microbes to provide acids, having no side chains on its carbon atom.
this essential amino acid for us, but glyphosate Glyphosate is a complete glycine molecule, and,
suppresses the multiple enzymes needed by like glycine, it has no carbon atom side chain.
E. coli to synthesize methionine. A study on However, what distinguishes glyphosate from
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carrot cells showed that both methionine and glycine is the methylphosphonyl group that is
the aromatic amino acids become deficient fol- attached to its nitrogen atom. This bulky, nega-
lowing glyphosate exposure. tively charged side chain attached to glypho-
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sate’s nitrogen atom does not prevent it from
GLYPHOSATE AS A GLYCINE ANALOGUE hooking up into the amino acid chain that forms
The main effect by which glyphosate kills a peptide sequence, but it does have enormous
essentially all plants except those genetically consequences in terms of disrupting the way
engineered to resist it is through disruption a protein folds and the protein’s activity level.
of a key enzyme in the so-called “shikimate Glyphosate’s main mechanism of toxicity
pathway.” This pathway is crucial in plants and is through suppression of the activity of the
in many microbes, but human cells do not have enzyme EPSP synthase, a critical enzyme in
the pathway, and this is why—Monsanto ar- the shikimate pathway. It is astonishing to me
gues—glyphosate is harmless to humans. What that toxicology experts know that multiple
Monsanto overlooks is that our gut microbes species of microbes and multiple species of
depend on this pathway to produce the three plants have “figured out” how to get around
essential aromatic amino acids: tryptophan, glyphosate’s toxicity to the shikimate pathway
tyrosine and phenylalanine. These amino acids by mutating the code for EPSP synthase, yet it
are “essential” precisely because our cells don’t does not seem to occur to any of them that this
have this pathway. They are among the twenty- could mean that glyphosate can get mistakenly
two “coding” amino acids that are the building incorporated into protein synthesis in place of
blocks of proteins, and they are also precursors glycine. Specifically, there is a highly conserved
to many biologically critical molecules such glycine residue at the site where the substrate
as the neurotransmitters serotonin, melatonin, phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) fits snugly. All

18 Wise Traditions WINTER 2018