Weren the genetically modified mice used in one study specially bred to produce tumors?
No. The p53+/- mice used in the 1999 Blanchard study are not “specifically bred to produce tumors” as VeriChip has claimed. Rather, they are genetically modified to have an increased susceptibility to cancer only when exposed to genotoxins, or substances that damage genetic material. These mice are not known to develop spontaneous tumors in the absence of genotoxins within the first six months of life, which is when the mice in the study developed the microchip-induced tumors. The high rate of cancer development in these mice (10.2%) in just six months strongly suggests that implanted microchips may either be genotoxic or may generate genotoxic byproducts in the host that can give rise to cancer.26 The researchers stated as much, writing, “the presence of the foreign body [microchip implant] may elicit tissue reactions capable of generating genotoxic byproducts.”27 The extraordinarily high rate of cancer in these mice is a disturbing finding that raises a serious red flag about the saf
