Golden Rice for World


	Golden Rice for World’s Poor New rice strains may help address vitamin A and iron deficiency

January 18, 2000—Scientists in Switzerland have produced a new “golden rice” strain that could save millions of lives and improve maternal and child health in developing countries by increasing the iron and Vitamin A content of the rice grain, Science magazine has reported.

The new rice, developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology's Institute for Plant Sciences, could significantly improve vitamin uptake in poverty stricken areas where supplemental pills are costly and difficult to distribute. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)—part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)—is working with the Swiss scientists to adapt the new “golden rice” to developing country conditions.




	Biotechnology use for food production



	Ninety percent of the world's rice is grown and consumed in Asia,where more than half the world's people and about two-thirds of the world's poor live



	Rice terraces, Banaue, Ifugao, Philippines—a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) causes more than 1 million childhood deaths each year and is the single most important cause of blindness among children in developing countries. Rice plants do produce carotenoid compounds (that our bodies convert into vitamin A)—but only in the green parts of the plant, not in the part of the grain normally eaten.

Researchers from the Swiss institute inserted genes from a daffodil and a bacterium into rice plants to produce the modified grain, which has sufficient beta-carotene to meet total vitamin A requirements in a typical Asian diet.

The Manila-based IRRI is currently working on transferring the genes required for beta carotene biosynthesis into the popular tropical indica rices preferred by most Asian consumers and suited to tropical growing conditions, using traditional breeding techniques. Consistent with the Washington-based CGIAR’s policy—of which IRRI is one of 16 centers—the new rice will be made freely available for poor farmers once it has been comprehensively tested.

“Any research that could help improve the diets, and therefore the health, of the world's millions of poor should be given every opportunity to succeed. It has always been CGIAR policy to distribute the results of such work free of charge once it is shown clearly to be safe to eat and produce,” said Dr. Swapan Datta, the CGIAR biotechnologist heading the “golden rice” project at IRRI.

IRRI has also developed a rice high in iron and zinc using traditional plant breeding techniques. This rice is currently being tested by novitiates at a convent in the Philippines, to see how well the nutrients are absorbed. Iron-deficiency anemia is the most widespread nutrient deficiency in the world, affecting an estimated 2 billion people worldwide. Between 40 and 50 percent of children under the age of five in developing countries are iron deficient, and iron deficiency accounts for up to 20 percent of all maternal deaths. It also impairs immunity and reduces the physical and mental capacities of people of all ages.

The World Bank is the largest contributor to the CGIAR. The Swiss Research was conducted with funding from governments and not-for-profit organizations.

Helpful links: To visit the website of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at http://www.cgiar.org/irri. Also visit Future Harvest at http://www.futureharvest.org. To learn more about the CGIAR, go to http://www.cgiar.org.