They inserted genes into the DNA of normal rice to create a variant that could make beta-carotene, a rich orange-coloured pigment that is also a key precursor chemical used by the body to make vitamin A.
I’m guessing they chose rice not only because it is widely eaten throughout the world but also because it is eaten in large quantities. Plants are not a good source of vitamin A because, as the article mentions, they actually only contain a precursor called beta-carotene, which the body then needs to convert to vitamin A. Vitamin A from animal sources is absorbed far more efficiently as a result. If I recall correctly from my previous reading, animal-based sources are something like 20 times more efficient than plant-based ones, but if it’s in rice, which people eat three times a day, that will make a much bigger impact than a vegetable which is eaten more sporadically.
(I had to learn about this because I have mysteriously high vitamin A, which is also dangerous, so I need to avoid it. My doctors say, and my research agrees, that I only need to avoid animal sources of it because plant-based sources don’t contribute much vitamin A at all.)
Anyway, banning this is clearly more of the generic anti-GMO fearmongering nonsense. This rice is a boon to people who cannot get adequate levels of vitamin A through meat-based sources.
I’m guessing they chose rice not only because it is widely eaten throughout the world but also because it is eaten in large quantities. Plants are not a good source of vitamin A because, as the article mentions, they actually only contain a precursor called beta-carotene, which the body then needs to convert to vitamin A. Vitamin A from animal sources is absorbed far more efficiently as a result. If I recall correctly from my previous reading, animal-based sources are something like 20 times more efficient than plant-based ones, but if it’s in rice, which people eat three times a day, that will make a much bigger impact than a vegetable which is eaten more sporadically.
(I had to learn about this because I have mysteriously high vitamin A, which is also dangerous, so I need to avoid it. My doctors say, and my research agrees, that I only need to avoid animal sources of it because plant-based sources don’t contribute much vitamin A at all.)
Anyway, banning this is clearly more of the generic anti-GMO fearmongering nonsense. This rice is a boon to people who cannot get adequate levels of vitamin A through meat-based sources.