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Organisms that have altered genomes in them are known as transgenics. A transgenic is essentially when an organism has been altered through the injection of another animal’s genes. Transgenics are generated in a laboratory either for commercial or research purposes and are created through the process of recombinant DNA where one gene is taken from organism and put with another to create a new organism. Golden rice is an example of a transgenic organisms and specifically, genetically modified organism (GMO). Standard rice, typically brown or white rice, includes a high amount of carbohydrates and, according to USDA National Nutrient Database, is rich in minerals like calcium, iron and sodium. White rice also has other benefits associated with it such as increased energy, improved metabolism and more control of blood pressure. However, it is not necessarily these benefits that the golden rice project is targeting and whilst giving people more access to these benefits, vitamin A deficiency is the main target.
Golden rice contains up to 35 beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A, where other forms of rice contain 0 vitamin A. The populations where golden rice is being distributed such as in Africa and Southeast Asia, have low vitamin A intake as there is little access to fruits and vegetables which vitamin A rich such as eggs, oranges and carrots. Approximately 900 micrograms (mcg) of retinol activity analysis (RAE) are recommended by the National institute of health and the populations where golden rice is distributed to have an average vitamin A intake of less than 100 per day. Golden rice is a biofortified food that addresses global health issues through the injection of genes from a daffodil into the rice to produce beta-carotene that is the forerunner for vitamin A. Vitamin A is a global issue that is causing 250-500 million children worldwide to become blind every year, half of whom die within 12 months of becoming blind. Golden rice addresses this devastating issue particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia as rice is cheap and accessible. Golden rice has pros and cons associated with it with the pros dominated by the health benefits linked with the GM food and the relatively cheap production whilst the cons of the GM food include the questionable benefits and ecosystem impacts. The GMO has multiple stakeholders who are directly affected by the transgenic including farmers as they make and grow the food, third world countries who require and receive the food and genetic engineers who originally made the recombinant DNA and are still doing so. A question I pose is, is golden rice useful in providing vitamin aid and whether or not the positives of golden rice outweigh its negatives.
Positives of golden rice is the valuable vitamin A and other health benefits associated with it that is not found in standard white or brown rice (the two most common forms of rice globally). Vitamin A is an important vitamin found most commonly in fruit and vegetables such as carrot, oranges and bananas which is often highly inaccessible for the populations affected by low vitamin A and vitamin A deficiency. As previously mentioned, vitamin A deficiency effects 500 million people and is a global issue that needs to be responded to and golden rice is an efficient response to the issue. In 2000, a prototype was announced and since then, the crop now produces 23 times more provitamin A (beta-carotene) than the original prototype. This is a significant health benefit as a lot of vitamin A (35 beta carotene is in each grain), which is now supplied to millions of people annually and is proven to be capable of reducing morbidity and overall mortality.
Another benefit of golden rice is the affordability and accessibility of the GM food making it sustainable for the long term. Rice is one of the cheapest foods to produce and distributed as it has an average production price of $0.24 per kilogram (kg) and is able to be produced in bulk with the average land holding of 3 hectares. This cheap nature and the pre-existing benefits of white and brown rice makes the food an ideal food to be genetically modified and distributed on a large, global scale. Rice is also one of the most common foods to be produced in nearby regions of where is distribution is occurring in Asia and Africa with Asian farmers accounting for 92% of the world’s total rice production making it easier to be distributed to Africa and in particularly Southeast Asia.
Negatives of golden rice is the questionable long-term effects and safety. As golden rice is an example of a GM food and GM foods are a relatively new practice with the first approved GMO food being released in 1994, the long-term safety and impacts are still under question. These long-term impacts can include a variety of effects such as negative health impacts as GMO’s are proposed to be unhealthy. According to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, GMOs are associated to immune system disorders, accelerated ageing and infertility. “Since the introduction of GMOs in 1996, chronic illnesses increased from 7% to 13% in just 9 years, allergies increased and other diseases such as autism, reproductive disorders, digestive problems, and others are on the rise” (Jeffery Smith, 2011, ‘10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs'). The negative economic impact golden rice has is a negative of the GMO. Golden rice requires a large cost to set it up, technology transfer, the accessibility of the project, the sustainability and credibility of the rice and support from the governments”.
This is a significant negative as there are many other foods that are more accessible, not genetically modified and produce similar benefits and provide vitamin A. This question the necessity of golden rice and whether the large coast associated with it is worthwhile when not only other global issues could be helped solved with this money, but similar benefits could be distributed for a cheaper price.
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