Golden Rice: Case Study

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vitamin A deficiency affects 230 million children worldwide, and at least one million children per year are dying of diseases related to this deficiency. Ingo Potrykus and his collaborator Peter Beyer, with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, led the effort to develop a variety of rice that contains beta-carotene, the plant pigment that is the precursor of Vitamin A. This rice, called "golden" rice because the inserted beta-carotene turns the grain a golden yellow color, could supply enough beta-carotene in a typical serving to supply 10% of the daily requirement for Vitamin A.         “It is ironic that some of the worst concentrations of xeropthalmia and blindness due to Vitamin A deficiency occur in populations surrounded by abundant sources of the vitamins and minerals in local vegetables and fruits, yet no country has yet mounted a successful campaign to solve the Vitamin A problem in this way.” Dr. Nevin Scrimshaw, 1991 Laureate of the World Food Prize                       For more information on this topic click here   http://www.biotech.iastate.edu/case_studies/golden_rice/                         http://www.public.iastate.edu/~ethics/GoldenRiceCaseStudy.pdf                                   http://www.agbioforum.org/v10n3/v10n3a04-unnevehr.htm                                           http://lsr.nellco.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=piercelaw_facseries                                               http://www.etcgroup.org/upload/publication/305/01/com_goldenrice.pdf                                           http://www.goldenrice.org/PDFs/Philippines_GR_Food_Policy_2004.pdf                          

• golden rice case study