What is Golden Rice?
If you only have 2 options, be healthy or not to be healthy, have good sight or get blind, what would you choose? Some people have no choice. They live in very poor areas where they mainly eat white rice. This type of rice will fill up the stomach but will not provide suitable vitamins. And here comes Golden Rice. It is still the same rice as we know but additionally it can produce Beta-carotene which is converted by humans into vitamin A. This rice has been invented in laboratory experiments and Golden rice was first mentioned to the public in 1999.
Beta-carotene produces vitamin A
The most well known vegetable where you can find Beta-carotene is a carrot. The colour of golden rice is yellow, this is thanks to Beta-carotene. Vitamin A is very important for people. Lack of this vitamin can cause health problems and even loss of sight. A great option is to provide people with Beta-carotene. These are not only carrots, but also spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe, and winter squash. However what to do if some people are too poor to afford it and they only eat rice? Golden rice is a great solution. It is a type of rice that partially behaves like a carrot because it has a gene added that produces Beta-carotene. Unfortunately such a mix of 2 species is called a GMO and many people are extremely afraid of it. If you eat rice and carrots is ok but is it ok if you eat rice that has the properties of carrots? So far there was nothing negative discovered about it and therefore the first country that started producing Golden rice in big quantities is The Philippines. According to geneticliteracyproject.org 67 tons beta carotene-enriched rice have been harvested until October 2022.
Nutritional Content
Deficiency of vitamin A is not only blindness but also weak immune system leading to infections and also delayed growth and development of children. Therefore Golden rice will be distributed in the Philippines to the families who need it the most. One serving of cooked Golden Rice can provide up to 60-90% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin A for children and adults, which is a remarkable accomplishment. It has been estimated that widespread adoption of Golden Rice could reduce the number of deaths and cases of blindness due to Vitamin A deficiency by as much as 50%. Additionally, Golden Rice can be grown by smallholder farmers using their traditional farming practices, which can contribute to the local economy and food security.
How Golden rice is produced
To create Golden Rice, scientists used recombinant DNA technology to insert genes from daffodils and bacteria into the rice plant. The daffodil genes provide the enzyme phytoene synthase (PSY), necessary to produce beta-carotene, and the bacterial genes act as a switch to turn on the production of beta-carotene in the endosperm, the edible part of the rice grain. Specifically, a rice endosperm-specific promoter, the glutelin promoter, was used to drive the expression of the daffodil PSY gene in the endosperm.
Resources:
Renneberg, R. (2008). Biotechnology for beginners: With a foreword by Tom A. Rapoport. (A. L. Demain, Ed.). Elsevier.
Other recommended books:
Nesbit, R. (2017). Is that fish in your tomato?: The fact and fiction of Gm Foods. Ockham Publishing.
