Here is a pretty thorough discussion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138025
The authors do mention what was mentioned below, just because pesticides are not synthetic doesn't mean they are necessarily safer:
One such alternative is so called “natural pesticides” that are not synthetically produced, but are derived from nature such as botanicals pesticides (pyrethrum, limonene, and many others), microbial/biological agents (microbes, parasites) and inorganic minerals (boric acid, limestone, diatomaceous earth). These solutions are generally assumed to be less toxic for human health than synthetic pesticides and could represent an interesting alternative. But their usefulness is actually questionable because some such pesticides are not potent enough to control pests but at the same time do exhibit adverse effects for human health (i.e. “natural pyrethroids”).
Another study discusses how exposure to a chemical called Atrazine (ATZ) causes mitochondrial dysfunction & insulin resistance: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2664469
ATZ treatments led to weight gain
ATZ increased visceral fat and intracellular fat content
ATZ treatment worsened insulin levels and HOMA-IR values
ATZ induced insulin resistance
ATZ changed the ultrastructure of mitochondria
ATZ exposure decreased energy metabolism
ATZ impairs mitochondrial OXHPOS through direct action
ATZ treatment blocked the insulin-Akt signaling pathway
I've been wondering whether there's any solid evidence that organic food is healthier than conventionally produced food-- the arguments I've seen on the subject have been theoretical/aesthetic.
I'm interested in anything in the range from personal stories to scientific studies, but would prefer to avoid extremely general arguments or claims that people who prefer one or the other are demonstrating character defects.
Edited to add: Thanks for the replies. I'm hoping for experiments which test the effects of food produced in various ways on organisms, especially multi-cellular organisms. It was interesting to find out that plants which have to fight off insects for themselves have more mutagens.
The mutation experiment is very cute, but it leaves out the possibility of damage that isn't related to mutation-- for example, hormonal effects. Also, if it's done on a standard bacteria acquiring the ability to make a particular nutrient, this might not be a test for mutation in general.
I realize experiments on organic vs. conventional would be difficult, especially if you're tracking human health. It would be very hard to avoid confounding factors like other lifestyle factors and income.
"Conventional food" is actually a large blob of a concept-- different pesticides, fertilizers, etc. are used on different foods at different times, so finding out what people are actually exposed to would be difficult.