is a conventional rice that

has been genetically engineered to have

high levels of beta-carotene. It is intended
to produce a fortified food to be grown and
consumed in areas with a shortage of
dietary vitamin A, a deficiency in which
each year is estimated to kill 670, 000
children under the age of 5 and cause an
additional 500, 000 cases of irreversible
childhood blindness.
 is a red/orange
pigment found in many fresh fruits and
vegetables and is a precursor of vitamin A
which is an essential vitamin.

We need vitamin A for healthy skin and

mucus membranes, for our immune system,
and for good eye health and vision.

Foods high in beta-carotene include

sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupes, etc.
 The Golden Rice prototype was
developed in the 1990’s by European
scientists and
without any direct corporate
involvement, and was greeted with much
enthusiasm. They proposed the
to
to genetically engineer rice
to increase its nutrients.
 supported
their goal to provide a sustainable
biofortification approach to combat vitamin
A deficiencies in developing countries.
(VAD) is prevalent
in developing countries whose diets are
dependent on rice or other micronutrient-
poor carbohydrate foods, which do not
contain vitamin A.

The began as a
proposed solution for VAD.
 In 2005, a team of researchers at
produced .
They combined the
gene from with crt1 from the
original golden rice. Golden Rice 2
produces 23 times more carotenoids than
golden rice, and preferentially
accumulates beta-carotene.
 A japonica variety of rice was
engineered with three genes necessary
for the rice grain to produce and store
beta-carotene. These included two genes
from the and a third from
a . Researchers used a
to ferry in the genes into the
plant cells. The incorporation of these
genes allows the rice plant to modify
certain metabolic pathways in its cells to
produce precursor of vitamin A, which
was previously not possible.
 Making Golden Rice includes a four-
step process:

1. The genes that give Golden Rice its

ability to make beta-carotene in its
endosperm come from daffodils and a
bacterium called .
2. These genes, along with promoters, are
inserted into plasmids that occur inside a
species of bacterium known as
.
3. These agrobacteria are then added to a
Petri dish containing rice embryos. As
they “infect” the embryos, they also
transfer the genes that encode the
instructions for making beta-carotene.
4. The transgenic rice plants must now be
crossed with strains of rice that are
grown locally and are suited to a
particular region’s climate and growing
conditions.
 The
(IRRI) and its national research partners have
developed Golden Rice to complement existing
interventions to address vitamin A deficiency.

Golden Rice is currently undergoing regulatory

applications in the Philippines and Bangladesh.
and are committed to carry out the
completion of Golden Rice development and satisfy all
regulatory requirements under the Joint Department
Circular No.1, series of 2016 to have well-documented,
science-based evidence on the efficacy and safety of
Golden Rice.
 IRRI is working with partners to develop
Golden Rice as a potential new-food based
approach to improve vitamin A status.
oDEVELOP VARIETIES SUITABLE FOR ASIAN
FARMERS
Breeders at the Philippine Department of
Agriculture – Philippine Rice Research Institute,
the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, and the
Indonesian Center for Rice Research are
developing Golden Rice versions of existing rice
varieties that are popular with their local farmers,
retaining the same yield, pest resistance, and grain
qualities. Golden Rice seeds are expected to cost
farmers the same as other rice varieties.
o HELP ASSESS THE SAFETY OF GOLDEN RICE
To help assess the safety of Golden Rice in the
environment, field tests and other evaluations will
be done in each partner country. Golden Rice will
be analyzed according to internationally accepted
guidelines for food safety.

o EVALUATE WHETHER CONSUMPTION OF

GOLDEN RICE IMPROVES VITAMIN A STATUS
After obtaining the necessary permits and
approvals, an independent community nutrition
study will be conducted to evaluate the efficacy of
Golden Rice. In other words, whether or not it
improves vitamin A status. The nutrition study is
necessary to determine the potential for Golden
Rice to be used as a public health approach for
reducing vitamin A deficiency.
o EXPLORE HOW GOLDEN RICE COULD REACH
THOSE MOST IN NEED
IRRI is now collecting information to develop
strategies to ensure that Golden Rice could reach
the farmers and consumers that need it the most.
If approved by national regulators and found to be
safe and efficacious, IRRI and its partners will work
together to introduce Golden Rice as another
food-based approach to improve vitamin A status.
 Golden Rice has the promise to help prevent
millions of deaths and to alleviate sufferings of
children and adults afflicted with VAD and
micronutrient malnutrition in developing countries.
In addition, allowing further Golden Rice
development may open up more possibilities of
enhancing genetically modified, biofortified crops to
combat micronutrient malnutrition in developing
countries.
1. Is a conventional rice that has been genetically engineered to have
high levels of beta-carotene.
2. Is a red/orange pigment found in many fresh fruits and vegetables
and is a precursor of vitamin A which is an essential vitamin.
3.-4. Examples of food that is high in beta-carotene.
5.-6. Golden Rice prototype was developed in the 1990’s by two
European scientists.
7. The genes that give Golden Rice its ability to make beta-carotene in
its endosperm come from daffodils and a bacterium called ________.
8. ____ is working with partners to develop Golden Rice as a
potential new-food based approach to improve vitamin A status.
9. ________supported their goal to provide a sustainable
biofortification approach to combat vitamin A deficiencies in
developing countries.
10. ______is prevalent in developing countries whose diets are
dependent on rice or other micronutrient-poor carbohydrate foods,
which do not contain vitamin A.
1. Golden Rice
2. Beta-carotene
3. Sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupes
4. Sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupes
5. Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer
6. Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer
7. Erwinia Uredovora
8. IRRI
9. Rockeffeler Foundation
10.Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD)