Genetically Modified Foods: Golden Rice

Genetically modified foods will enhance food security. Food security is defined as 'when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life' (World Food Summit, 1996). Genetically modified foods (GM foods) are used in the agricultural industry to increase crop protection (resistance against plant viruses/diseases and tolerance towards herbicides); and additionally, are of greater nutritional benefit to the consumer of these foods (World Health Organization, 2014). Through the identification of certain characteristics of crops, scientists can transfer these desired characteristics between living organisms and produce a crop with enhanced nutrition levels or higher tolerance to herbicides (Food Standards, 2019).

Golden rice is a genetically modified crop with increased micronutrients and filled with essential minerals such as iron, zinc and vitamin-A (β-carotene) (Majumder, S. & Datta, K., 2019). It is estimated that one out of three humans suffer from micronutrient deficiencies also known as 'hidden hunger', and a repercussion of this 'silent epidemic condition' is vitamin-A deficiency (VAD) (Majumder, S. & Datta, K., 2019). For over half the world's population, rice contributes up to 70% of daily calories – so to what extent can golden rice assist with vitamin-A deficiency? With the world’s population rapidly increasing and land suitable for agriculture is scarce, mass amounts of staple crop production are required to ensure developing countries don't suffer from micronutrient deficiencies and vitamin-A deficiency. Genetically modified rice (golden rice) was researched and developed by professors and plant scientists, Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer in the 1990s (Krimsky, S., 2019). The aim was to create rice enriched with either beta-carotene or provitamin-A to save millions of children suffering from vitamin-A deficiency (VAD) (Krimsky, S., 2019). Vitamin-A has proved to contribute significantly to bone growth, immune response, vision, reproduction and epithelial cell development (Krimsky, S., 2019). Without the correct daily intake of vitamin-A, people who have insufficient access to varied dietary recourses can be diagnosed with blindness, later putting them at risk of infections, and possibly death (Majumder, S. & Datta, K., 2019). Approximately 250 million children are vulnerable to subclinical VAD and are accountable for a million fatalities annually (Biomedical Central, 2017).

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Golden rice is a genetically modified, biofortified food. During seed maturation, golden rice synthesizes and accumulated β-carotene, and after harvesting, polishing and consumption, the human body efficiently converts the β-carotene into vitamin-A (Biomedical Central, 2017). Golden rice's genetic construct was to entirely express the rice endosperm (grains) (Golden Rice Project, 2020). This genetically modified rice accumulates phytoene in the seed which is a crucial intermediate of vitamin-A (Majumder, S. & Datta, K., 2019). The orange/yellow color of the rice is due to the 'seed-specific introduction of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway' and concentration of β-carotene (Majumder, S. & Datta, K., 2019). There are several rice lines with different concentrations of β-carotene to cover the estimated average requirement (EAR), which has been achieved in today's society (Golden Rice Project, 2020). It is estimated that 3 billion people consume rice as a staple crop, and 10% of these people are affected by vitamin-A deficiency (Krimsky, S., 2019). If 40 grams of concentration level 4.0 μg/g golden rice is consumed, then children will receive 36% of their EAR. However, if 40 grams of concentration level 11.2 μg/g is consumed, children will receive 102% of their EAR, and consequently resulting in the vast majority of rice consumers consuming nutritionally enhanced staple foods. This is also demonstrated in adults; if they consume 100 grams of concentration level 11.2 μg/g, then they will receive 140% of their EAR. Consuming rice containing GR2E (or golden rice) could potentially contribute 57-99% and 89-113% of the EAR for vitamin-A for children in the Philippines and Bangladesh. The recommended daily intake (RDI) is the average daily dietary intake level to meet the nutrient requirement (between 97-98%) and is the goal for healthy individuals. In the Philippines and Bangladesh, it is inferred that school-aged children (6-14 years) would be able to reach 78% of their RDI. This is a drastic improvement, as a previous study conducted showed that women and children in Bangladesh had 93% prevalence inadequate intake of vitamin-A. At the end of the experiment, the prevalence of inadequate intake dropped from 93% to roughly 20% and 13% for children and women with the consumption of biofortified golden rice (De Moura, F., Moursi, M. & Donahue Angel, M., 2016). Through the use of the quantitative data, it is evident that golden rice is a nutritionally enriched staple crop containing high levels of provitamin-A. The information and evidence were widely sourced and sufficiently credible, which thoroughly supported both the claim and research question. However, there were limitations behind the evidence which included a narrow sample size in race. The data would be more in-depth if the sample size included people suffering from vitamin-A deficiency from other countries and other races to ensure results are representative of everyone as much as possible. A combination of race, age and gender should be used in the study to ensure this. Whilst sufficient information on the research question was obtained, there was little to no detail and data on the before and after effect of golden rice. Potential and predicted statistics on the matter was calculated, however, there lacked information on the mortality rate before and after the consumption of golden rice.

If this report were to be rewritten in the future, further research would be conducted. More time would be spent searching and gathering data about golden rice not only for vitamin-A, but also iron (more specifically iron deficiency anemia), zinc and also the cost-efficiency. Additional research would also be conducted to examine whether golden rice is used in the agricultural industry to increase the crops’ protection against plant viruses, disease, herbicides and animals/insects. Genetically modified foods will enhance food security and the consumption golden rice greatly assists with vitamin-A deficiency. The evidence provided concerning golden rice clearly shows the efficiency in aiding food security and the potential to contribute 57-99% and 89-113% of the estimated average requirement for vitamin-A for children in the Philippines and Bangladesh. With largely added benefits and few limitations including a narrow sample size in race, it is evident that in the future, golden rice could be a solution to aiding food security and hidden hunger.