(0:00 - 0:31) Hello and welcome to another episode of TruthRx. My name is Christof Plothe. Today I'll be talking about a topic that I wasn't even aware a month ago, after having read an article in the Defender on DeSantis' decision to block all research into genetic modifications of ticks, especially in combination with causing meat allergies. (0:31 - 5:42) Well, it didn't take long that I got in an actual encounter with it because I was at a family gathering and members of the family told me that their dogs didn't tolerate meat anymore, a very mysterious thing as usually dogs are considered carnivores. So they went to their vet and the vet told them that more and more dogs seem to be allergic to meat. But not only that, they told me that their husband was a forest worker and many forest workers experienced the same thing. They got bitten by a tick and later on couldn't tolerate meat anymore. So that made me very curious, so I dug a little bit into this topic. And I have to say, I still don't have all the answers, but I beg you to listen to this because it could affect all of us. And today we will be exploring an intersection of a mysterious allergy, genetic engineering and ecological ethics. Why so? Well, let's take a deep dive into it. The alpha-gal enigma, it's a tick-borne meat allergy. And if you haven't heard of it, well, it's quite recent. The first cases appeared in 2000 and alpha-gal syndrome had rapidly gained attention as a severe allergy to red meat triggered by a bite of the so-called lone star tick. So as cases escalate, we have to ask ourselves about the origin of it. Is it a natural thing or is there maybe another thing? Have people been playing with nature again in terms of genetic experiments? Well, it's a strange thing that ticks have been around for quite a while. In fact, they're very ancient in the history of living things on our planet. So how come that only after 2000, this strange meat allergy started to appear? And in case you really haven't heard of it, there is an amount of data that usually we don't get to hear in the daily news, but which should make us all a bit concerned, and especially the health agencies, because there is this condition that started to come up in 2000. And then the lone star tick, one particular type of ticks was found to be the main problem, the main carrier of this, not all the other ticks. And it seems to be a severe allergy with, listen to this, lifelong impact. So AGS represents a significant health concern due to the severity and the long-term implication of the allergy. And there was, by coincidence, there was an article last week in which a pilot actually died of it after having consumed meat. So it's not just a few pimples that arise, it can actually seem to create anaphylactic reactions. So as the cases are rising, as we'll see, we should really pay more attention to this. So what is it that we're talking about? It's the so-called alpha-gal syndrome. So you're bitten by a lone star tick, and then it introduces a sugar molecule known as alpha-gal into the human bloodstream. And because we don't produce it ourselves, it's recognised by the immune system as something foreign, so it attacks it. The problem is that some meats contain this sugar. So whenever they contain it, you get an allergic reaction to it because you've been sensitised to it. And if you look at the incidence of it, it's skyrocketing. So the recent CDC reports highlight alarming trends in the prevalence. It's estimated that 450,000 people since 2010 got it. It's an increase in confirmed cases from 2017 to 2021 of 40%. And it doubles due to the expanding tick population we're being told. So these are quite significant numbers that we should really look at. And at the same time, when something appears all of a sudden, there's something that humans have done in the last few decades that I think they should have never really entered into, because we are not superior to all parts of nature. And Mae-Wan Ho, a famous scientist from Oxford, had written a wonderful book about it that should really alarm us. And that was in the 70s, that we should not mess with genetics, because we really have no idea what we're doing. So the landscape of genetic engineering is multifactorial, involving various institutions, funding sources, and emerging new technology. (5:43 - 6:21) We've seen this now, the modification in plants. We've seen it now in insects. We've seen it now in mammals. We've seen it in the last few years in humans. So we're just starting to understand what we have created there. But why am I talking about genetic engineering when it comes to a tick? Well, there actually is a lot of experimentation around ticks. And you probably have heard of Oxitec. That's the company that was partially funded by Bill Gates, that introduced the genetically modified mosquitoes. So they have actually released genetically modified insects. (6:22 - 10:56) And there is an enormous amount, I checked on patent registers, there's an enormous amount of research and patents on modifying insects out there at the moment. So Oxitec is one of the leading companies of that. And of course, the questions are, should they be doing this at all? And yeah, what about the monopolisation and the ethical use of these technologies in our... And another thing, even if somebody should really deal with it responsibly, so in a high security lab, what if something happens? It can be an accident, as we've been told in the last few years with other topics. But what about if it can actually trigger a misuse? Because we're basically talking about a potential weapon. That's why the military is behind most of this research. So the potential misuse of genetic engineering of something that's been going to be released in the wild is of course significant. And it can actually spread from cross species, but it might also create an unknown cascade of things in the cascade of its spread. So what do we know about Oxitec? Again, nobody's saying that this has actually happened, we're just taking a look because I think it deserves to be looked at. So Oxitec, that modified the mosquitoes, has several patents relevant to genetic modification, including a patent A293498B2, which outlines methods for genetically engineering modified ticks. This research has substantial financial backing, again, that's a 1.4 million grand from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, advancing the genetic modification of the recephalos microplast cattle tick. So again, we have this intersection of private funding, public health concerns that we should look at. And what are the goals of genetic modification of insects? Well, we're being told this is to pest control. And it's of course, it's a self-limiting gene. This is supposed to suppress pest populations. So reducing the incidence of several diseases that we are known to get from it, including, by the way, that's written in this patent's Alpha-Gel syndrome. So to exclude it or to include it is the question. While the goal is to mitigate the impact of ticks on agriculture and human health, there's significant ethical and ecological ramifications that we should look at. So what do we know about that tick genetic manipulation? We're being told it's to revolutionise the approach to understand controlling the tick population itself. In 2016, there were some breakthroughs. A scientist, Dr. Monika Gulia-Nuss and her team at the University of Nevada developed the first reliable method for injecting tick embryos, marking a significant advance in genetic engineering of ticks. And that team overcame monumental technical barriers, hard wax, wax-coated corian, high-pressure yolk system, showcases and genetic tick research. And the protocol for tick embryo manipulation involved dissecting eggs and employing a fine tungsten needle, paving the way for future advantages in tick biology and control strategies, the patent says. So we now know that there has been some substantial breakthroughs in the genetic modification. But coming back to the question is why do humans do that in the first place? Well, they are very curious beings. And the other thing is, it's a wonderful thing you can patent. So there's a lot of money behind it. So they used the so-called CRISPR technique, the CRISPR-Cas9 technique. And we know that it is considered a huge shift in genetic research because this can be very easily done to anything. But again, with all the experiments that we've had so far, it led to unwanted consequences that were usually suppressed in the media. Usually we're being told, oh, wow, CRISPR is the future for genetic diseases. (10:56 - 11:44) It can just replace a gene that you don't want. And well, unfortunately, in the cases that had been done in China, there were cases where it was illegally performed without a real ethical background to stand on. It led to horrific consequences for the children that were involved. But we're not being told about the consequences in animals because there we're still waiting for long-term monitoring outcomes. So however, this wonderful technique that's out there, it can lead to unforeseen and potentially harmful impacts on biodiversity and public health. So again, when it comes to informed consent, I personally want to know if I'm walking in the wheels or ticks that are potentially modified and then create shifts in my system. (11:46 - 14:30) And if you look at this particular paper, that really gave me the goosebumps. I really have to say that that was a paper by Crutchfield and Herreth in 2024. And it suggests that promoting the spread of tick-borne alpha-gal syndrome could be seen as a moral obligation. Listen to this, a moral obligation raising significant ethical concerns about the use of genetic engineering as means of dietary control. This perspective challenges traditional views of personal choice and the role of technology in shaping dietary behaviours. So that was published in an ethics journal. But this basically, if you translate it into common English, it basically means, because we can save the planet with it, it's morally an obligation to make people allergic to meat. I found that really, really stunning. And if we then look at the people that do advocate the synthetic beef, because they also have patent in selling all these products, there's one name, of course, that appears everywhere. So it's a little bit odd that somebody invests in research like it. Papers supporting it as ethical, ethically necessary, and a moral obligation for society. And it's very interesting that always the same people occur on this stage, that do advocate this for the climate change, even if Bill Gates actually made a U-turn two weeks ago. So of course, it's a lot of money. If you look at the investment in meat alternatives, Gates is involved in many of those financial interests. And the investment strategy has raised eyebrows concerning potential conflicts of interest in tick genetic research. So we're not the only ones raising questions here. And we have to ask ourselves, what are the motivations? Is it really to save our planet? Or is it again, to make loads of money? And is it to promote synthetic and alternative meats? We at the same time have a huge attack now on our farmers. So be aware, yeah, it's getting harder and harder to get naturally produced products in case you haven't realised yet. I was recently in Norway, and there's hardly any fruit and vegetables in the shops anymore. But loads of synthetic alternatives, including genetically modified, synthetically produced dairy products, meats, eggs, etc. So the future is already here. (14:32 - 14:52) So be aware that this all is part of a context to basically open new markets. And I personally believe it has nothing to do with philanthropic ideas. So the genetic modification of organisms, particularly ticks raises critical concerns, because well, A, it's an irreversible experiment. (14:52 - 15:35) So if it should be the case, if that these genetically modified ticks are out there, and they replicate, there's no way you can ever control them again. So genetically modifying organisms often results in irreversible changes, making it difficult to reverse original state. And of course, there are gene drive risks. And yeah, please take the time to dig in a little bit into that topic. Because we're constantly now, if you remember a few years ago, nobody was talking about genetically, genetically modifying everything. Now, it's, it's a daily occurrence that we're being told about the wonderful benefits of manipulative nature out there. (15:35 - 15:49) And we don't know about unintentionally cross special boundaries. And we've been told over again, that doesn't happen. But we know from bacterial research that actually, this is the case. (15:49 - 18:55) So ecological impacts, yeah, they can disrupt ecosystems, they can potentially to new allergens or to disease vectors. But again, they shouldn't be there in the first place. And we know that messing with one gene basically means messing with loads, loads of proteins, because one gene isn't just encoding one particular protein. It's, it actually encodes hundreds of them. So what to all of those unknown proteins happens in our bodies, we have no idea. And so, especially if we look at the entire environment that will be impacted by it, birds eating these ticks, yeah, all the cross species potential changes that can occur, of course, what are the real consequences of us humans with these changes? Is it just that particular information that's being then inserted into our bloodstream when a tick bites us? Or will we actually be encountered with loads of other proteins that we have no idea what they'll be causing in our system. So there is a severe personal toll. And if you actually live with alpha-gal syndrome, it's not just avoiding red meat, because it profoundly alters daily life. Those must constantly navigate food choices, endure social stigma and prepare for potential medical emergencies. As I just said, there are even the first cases of death reporting. And this can lead to huge psychological burden. And if you've a meat lover, and you can't have it anymore, well, give it a second thought. So the consequences of that should be that definitely, we need demand for transparency. And I can tell you, I researched now two weeks into this topic. And whether it was via the common search engines, or by AI, I could hardly get anything. I know now a few tricks how to trick the search engines. So that's at least material I could present here to you. But there should be increasing awareness and advocacy for clear guidelines in genetic research. Again, we don't know if it's the case with these new disease coming up. But I use it as an example, that we should be very careful because the research is being done in labs. And how can you confine it to labs is the big question. So the establishment of independent oversight, we need for regulatory bodies to evaluate the safety and ethical implications of genetic modifications, as 90% of our regulatory bodies are in the hands of the pharmaceutical industry, it's not very likely that that can happen. But there's a lot happening in the US at the moment. So good luck guys over there that there might finally be some independence in establishing a medical oversight. And we need a public engagement and a debate. If you haven't heard about this topic, please discuss it with your friends. Please discuss it with your family. (18:56 - 22:27) And you might even consider writing to the regulatory body what they know about it. And please get an open discussion of scientists, policymakers and the public in the implication of genetic engineering on its way. And if you should be bitten by a tick, and you'd in any case, please put the tick in a jar. If you later develop some signs of meat allergy, send that tick to a lab. Yeah, that's I mean, I live in the middle of the woods. I have dozens of tick bites every summer. And I'll be doing the same. I haven't had a meat allergy yet. But please monitor if you see this first sign that you get some indigestion, some problems, I heard about people having bloody stools, and nobody can explain why and you have been bitten by a tick a few days, a few weeks, a few months beforehand. Consider that this might have been a part of it. And yeah, we need if nobody does this, we need to find a way that we should contact labs if they do that, and do it ourselves. Yeah, that's the only way that true safety for products can come. So first of all, of course, if we think about the future of alpha-gal syndrome, and it is, it should be a part of a genetic experiment, this will get larger. Yeah, they will reproduce. And we will have much, much more cases like it. And again, I was extremely irritated that a vet actually told a family member that more and more dogs can't tolerate meat anymore. This should be an alarming sign. Because definitely in the history of canines, a meat allergy, I don't think was known. So have a good sling. I that's what I use. If I get a tick, if I go into the woods, there are these little sling gadgets, in which you then can can trap the the the upper part of the of the tick without squeezing it because you shouldn't squeeze it because then all the inside comes out. So as soon as it's there, it has attached itself to you, get a sling, remove it, and put it in a jar. And if you later on should develop some signs, please send it in for further investigation. So thank you very much for your attention. Again, it's just a hypothesis. But if a governor of a country in the United States, DeSantis, raises the fact that research into this should be disallowed, if there are people in scientific papers demanding the use of ticks for a meat allergy, we should be careful. And I don't know about you, my trust has been minimalized to only a few people that I really think are ethical, and not driven by money by power or other motives. So yeah, please monitor this disease alpha-gal and alpha-gal syndrome. Inform yourself if you know something more. And I hopefully will have a remake of this in half a year or a year because there's so much to find out. So thank you very much for your attention. All the best to all of you. And thanks Will for your show. Bye bye.