Golden Rice: The Fortified, Modified and Vilified Option for Third Worl

Each year with step to the fore fail anywhere in the midst of 250,000 to 500,000 children go blind from Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD), more than half of those flush it within twelve months. To visualize this number think of Seattle, now guess half or all of its population going blind. With a hardly a(prenominal) dollars worth of food or supplements enriched in vitamin A this problem stern be mollified. But getting fresh foods and vitamins to those with the greatest need has be an insurmount able-bodied problem. Food Aid, while indeed lifesaving, is costly and does non arrive at the underlying problems in poor societies. To be truly secure volume must have food independence, which is to say they must be able to grow their own food supply and not rely on outside markets. In countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, India and China the main food staple is rice. While rice is a valuable source of carbohydrates, once the rice is milled, and its outer layer shucked, it losses mos t of its nutritional value. 30 years ago two German scientists, Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer set out to see if they could do something about making a better rice. What they came up with was genetically modified rice that was bright yellow because it was rich in (beta)-carotene, and was called golden rice because of its sunny hue. But before the two scientists could rap themselves on the back for solving Vitamin A Deficiency, anti-GM (genetically modified) groups such as Greenpeace denounced the supernatural solution and swore that golden rice would never find its way to triplet world farmers. Twenty eight years and approximately 10,000,000 million deaths by and by golden rice has still not been able to escape the crimson tape and fear mongering of the First World. And while golden rice is not a cure all for world hunger,... ...Rice to Combat Malnutrition Disorders of the Poor. Nutrition Reviews. Vol. 51. no. 6. Pp. S101-S104 June. Various Authors 2010 Genetically Modified Food Controversies. Wikipedia. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_food_controversyAuthor Unknown (Editorial) 2005 Reburnishing sic prospering Rice. Nature Biotechnology. Vol. 23. No. 4. Pp. 395. AprilAuthor Unknown 2005 Scientists in Support of rude Biotechnology. AgBioWorld. Agbioworld.org/declaration/petition/petition.php