A new study found that Golden Rice is just as good, and even better than supplements and other foods at providing children and adults with their daily requirements for Vitamin A. Golden Rice is genetically engineered to be the worldโs first ever beta-carotene rich grain. The crop has been around for years, but due to controversy and opposition from anti-GM groups, it has yet to come into real-world use.
Golden Rice may be able to do even more than provide a healthy dose of vitamin A; it may be able to help prevent blindness. Vitamin A deficiency blinds an estimated half a million children every year. But with the new golden grain, a strong dose vitamin A could help cut this number down.
Lead researcher Guangwen Tang, of Tufts University in Boston, said, โWhile further study is needed, our results suggest that Golden Rice could be one useful way to combat vitamin A deficiency in areas where rice is a staple food crop and where vitamin A deficiency is still common.โ
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The rice has been met with opposition since its inception, namely from groups such as Greenpeace and other anti-GM โenvironmentalโ groups.
โThis is truly unfortunateโ, says the American Council on Science and Healthโs Dr. Ruth Kava, โbecause Golden rice is a breakthrough and has the potential to reduce the global problem of vitamin A deficiency. Yet because it is a genetically modified food, it is faced with unfounded antipathy and fear by folks who have probably never known the devastating effects that vitamin A deficiency can have.โ
