Golden Rice could fight deadly vitamin A deficiency now. Why do farmers have to wait another 3 years to grow it?

Matthew Rees, Phil Harvey | January 6, 2021 @ Genetic Literacy Project

It’s one of the world’s most preventable tragedies. Every year, as many as 500,000 children go blind because their diet contains an insufficient amount of vitamin A. Half of these children will die prematurely, typically from diarrhea and measles. Many more will have stunted growth.

A simple, safe, low-cost solution exists to combat vitamin A deficiency, in the form of a new breed of rice. But it has been held hostage for years by government regulators throughout the world, many of whom have been cowed by militant, anti-science forces who oppose the rice simply because it’s genetically modified. The episode is a tragic illustration of regulations blocking proven, life-altering remedies under the guise of “safety” and “precaution.”

Vitamin A deficiency is one of the great public health challenges of our time. It affects one third of the world’s under five population — more than 140 million children, making them vulnerable to a range of other childhood diseases.

Addressing vitamin-A deficiency (VAD) should be easy. It’s available through consumption of some fruits (such as cantaloupes) and vegetables (such as carrots and leafy greens). But there is limited access to such foods for families in developing countries. And while the vitamin can be distributed in other forms, such as capsules, doing so is costly and brings logistical challenges, which have been magnified in the current environment.

These obstacles, and the morbidity that comes with failing to overcome them, motivated scientists to look for other solutions. In the late 1990s, German plant scientists began developing a revolutionary form of rice. It is identical to conventional rice except for the addition of two genes that allow the plant to naturally produce beta-carotene, which in turn is converted into vitamin A. The tweak, along with natural yellow pigments known as xanthophylls, gives the kernels a golden tint.

With rice a low-cost dietary staple in most developing countries, especially in Asia, “Golden Rice” is an ideal delivery vehicle for vitamin A. It can produce as much as 100 percent of the vitamin A needs of preschool children and multiple independent studies show that it is better at transmitting vitamin A than many vegetables that are typically inaccessible to the poor..........To Read More @ Genetic Literacy Project