Corn Tidbits: Biotech
Produces Golden Rice
Greg
Roth
Associate Professor
Penn State
March, 2000
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In the January
14, 2000 edition of Science magazine, a report by X. Ye et and others
described the development of rice plants using biotechnology that
accumulate Beta carotene (Vitamin A) in the grain. This development
of "golden rice" is significant because more than half of the world's
population eat rice daily and rice is a poor source of many minerals
and vitamins. In Southeast Asia, for example, approximately 70% of
the children under five suffer from vitamin A deficiency. UNICEF (United
Nations Children's Fund) predicts that improved vitamin A could prevent
1 to 2 million child death each year. The rice was developed by inserting
three genes that encode for three different enzymes that are necessary
for the biosynthesis of Beta-Carotene in the endosperm. Variety development
and field testing remain to be completed but if the testing is successful,
this could be a major development similar to the Green Revolution.
The Rockefeller Foundation, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
and the European Community Biotech Program funded this work. Since
these are public sources of funding, the rice should be freely available
to farmers who need it most. If this program is successful, it will
be a major boost to the proponents of biotechnology, because it demonstrates
the potential of the technology to address consumer problems, even
for the less developed countries. |
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