Feed the world - with golden rice?

Around 250 million schoolchildren were deficient in Vitamin A in 2012 (Tang et al., 2009). A lack of vitamin A can cause impaired vision and growth, a weaker immune system, more common and severe respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses and many other health problems (Vijayaraghavan, 2000). It is particularly common amongst poor communities whose diet consists mainly of rice, which does not contain provitamin A. If we can develop a way to distribute Vitamin A more widely then it could be possible to make a difference to global ill health and malnutrition. This is especially important as we do not know what changes to the environment and therefore available food sources will occur as a result of climate change in the future.

Supplements have been produced before to combat this widespread Vitamin A deficiency, but they are expensive to produce and distribute. Staple foods have been genetically engineered to include the Vitamin A carotenoid, which is a way of distributing supplements in food which will be consumed as normal. Some argue, however, that this will not be enough to address all health issues associated with Vitamin A deficiency (Zimmermann et al., 2004).

Normal rices vs Golden Rice. Source. 

'Golden Rice' is rice which is enhanced with provitamin A, and there are mixed opinions concerning its efficiency.  A 2009 study found that around 50g of Golden Rice per day in developing countries which are reliant on rice would be enough to provide 90-100% of the daily Vitamin A that a child aged 4-8 would need, and could therefore help to combat this widespread Vitamin A deficiency in children (Tang et al., 2009). Other studies, such as Anderson et al., 2005, found that the welfare benefits and poverty reduction potential of this new strain of vitamin rich rice could even exceed the increased productivity benefits associated with genetically modified crops. Greenpeace published a document in 2013 highlighting their concerns over the potential contamination of regular rice, the unforeseen risks which may occur and the risks to food security and human health. They also commented on how some strains of Golden Rice are very inefficient, and therefore would require large amounts of rice to be consumed on a daily basis in order to receive the vitamin A benefits.

As with other genetically modified organisms, there are still concerns over the health impacts and the potential for wider unforeseen environmental impacts. Some say that the usefulness of 'Golden Rice' is being exaggerated as a way of increasing public acceptance of GMOs in general, rather than addressing the issue of malnutrition - that it is just 'a smokescreen to promote the biotech industry' (Scott, 2000:37). However, the study included a note on safety, stating that no adverse reactions to the product were observed. They did also note that participants only consumed one serving, and that longer exposure would be needed to make 'definitive assertions regarding the inherent safety of this food for human use' (Tang et al, 2009: 1782).

Research is still ongoing into the potential uses, benefits and issues associated with 'Golden Rice'. Extensive studies need to be done on the health impacts resulting from long term consumption, and further study is needed concerning the effectiveness of the product in providing the necessary provitamin A to help relieve widespread malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency.