The affects of GMO Golden Rice
Golden Rice is normal Rice with the added naturally found chemical, Beta-carotene. This chemical in seen in orange and yellow foods, it gives foods an orange-yellowish tint of color through natural pigmentation. (“Golden Rice FAQs”) This added orange-yellowish tint of color is why this GMO is called Golden rice. Many traditional rices have Beta-carotene in them, but despite this rice does not naturally produce Beta-carotene, in order to get it, it needs to be extracted using genetic engineering and manipulation.
Beta-carotene is a Vital source of vitamin A for humans because When Beta carotene enters the body it is converted into vitamin A. (“Golden Rice FAQs”) Golden Rice was genetically modified as a means to solve vitamin A deficiency problems globally, but especially for less fortunate people from Africa, South Asia and South East Asia. (Mayer) Golden rice is an effective solution for these places, as rice is the most commonly eaten food in these locations. It is essential to address a solution to vitamin A deficiency as it can cause blindness and premature death. (Buu) With this being said, this is how Golden Rice is made. Rice naturally produces a chemical compound called Geranylgeranyl diphosphate. (GGPP) This chemical compound is an early precursor of beta-carotene. In the beta-carotene biosynthesis pathway genes are obtained from an Agrobacterium gene and usually either 2 daffodil genes or 1 maize gene. (something in nature that natural produces beta-carotene.) After the genes are obtained, the biosynthesis genes of Beta-carotene our cut using a restriction enzyme, Then a plasmid is gathered from Agrobacterium Tumefacians, and is also cut using the same restriction enzyme. (“Golden Rice- a Transgenic Variety of Rice, with Genes for the Synthesis of B-Carotene”) A DNA ligase is then used to insert the Beta-Carotene biosynthesis genes into the newly opened plasmid, it connects easily due to compatible sticky ends. This forms a recombinant plasmid. This is mixed with chemically treated Agrobacterium. (Oxford) The combination is then inserted into a rice embryo and converts the GGPP to beta-carotene. (Buu) The embryo is then put into a sterile culture medium, in this medium, the Embryo naturally divides by mitotic cell division. This forms a callus, the cells of the callus our then transferred to culture media with added hormones. (“Animation E4, 1.4 Making of Golden Rice”) This process establishes Golden Rice plantlets, which are planted in soil, and create the Golden rice plant. (Oxford)
Golden Rice, yields 1.6–2.0 μg beta-carotene/g of traditional rice. (Buu) The GMO of Golden Rice is only officially government certified as safe for consumption in, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The Philippines, and USA. Currently Bangladesh’s Government is still deciding whether to certify it or not. (“Which Is the First Country to Approve Genetically Modified Golden Rice”) With this being said, the only place where Golden Rice can be found in the day-to-day marketplace is the Philippines. This is because Rice is not as prevalent in the diets of the other certified countries, and vitamin A deficiency is also not as much of a problem in these countries. Many other countries make Golden Rice, but the reason they have not certified Golden Rice yet, is that many people our skeptical of GMO foods. In poorer countries that could benefit more from Golden rice there is even more skepticism of GMO foods.
One study states that the science behind how affective Golden rice is questionable as they exclaim that “Vitamin A can only be absorbed by the body when it is consumed along with fat. People suffering from VAD, which is most commonly caused by malnutrition, often do not have access to fat in their diets. The beta-carotene in Golden Rice degrades rapidly during storage and cooking.” (“Golden Rice Is Not a Solution to vitamin A Deficiency «Biosafety Information Centre”) Another study, done by NYU states that there are currently “better planned solutions for malnutrition as well as programs currently in place that are cheaper and do not require GMOs, thereby making golden rice unnecessary.” (Rice) This study further mentions that UNICEF’s vitamin A supplement program is more affective and cheaper and that UNICEF’S program “improves a child’s survival rate by 12 to 24 percent” (Rice) It states that the 1.6–2.0 μg beta-carotene/g only produces “10 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin A” (Rice)
Other concerns regarding Golden Rice our that, Since Golden Rice is a GMO, it can cause Allergies and Antibiotic Resistance. (Rice) Golden Rice can also affect the environment as If Golden rice is planted in the same field as Normal Rice, It can affect the biodiversity of the entire rice field. It is easy for a farmer to mistake the two as the plantlets our similar. (Rice)
Despite the doubts in the effectiveness of Golden Rice, One study claims that if Golden Rice were to become more widely certified, it could save roughly 200,000–700,000 people a year from dying from vitamin A deficiency. (Entine) A further positive of Golden Rice, is that Golden rice has potential to supply 20–50% of the estimated average vitamin A requirements, which is enough to prevent vitamin A deficiency towards less fortunate people. (“Golden Rice FAQs”) Golden Rice can improve the health/quality of one’s skin, immune system and vision.(Rice) As mentioned earlier It can also prevent Blindness and Premature death.
To conclude, my research has shown that the negative has a larger impact on the world, due to skepticism/scientific evidence towards the need/effectiveness of Golden rice. Golden Rice is not necessarily a GMO that impacts the world in a majorly negative/dangerous way, instead it is just a GMO, that is deemed unnecessary by most. With all of this being said, I feel that it is unnecessary to use this GMO. I believe that this GMO is not the safest and the logic of it is flawed.
References
“Animation E4, 1.4 Making of Golden Rice.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Aug. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2B6Xp4Uud4.
“Biology.” University of Oxford, https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/course-listing/biology.
Buu, MyMy. “Golden Rice: Genetically Modified to Reduce Vitamin A Deficiency, Benefit or Hazard?” Nutrition Bytes, 10 Aug. 2004, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2h01f05c.
Courtesy www.openwebdesign.org / Modified: Jorge Mayer. “Golden Rice Project.” Vitamin A Deficiency, https://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why1_vad.php#:~:text=Vitamin%20A%20deficiency%20(VAD)%20is,then%20convert%20into%20vitamin%20A.
Courtesy www.openwebdesign.org / Modified: Jorge Mayer. “Golden Rice Project.” Vitamin A Deficiency, https://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why1_vad.php#:~:text=Vitamin%20A%20deficiency%20(VAD)%20is,then%20convert%20into%20vitamin%20A.
Entine, Jon. “Viewpoint: At Least 200,000 People Die Every Year GMO Golden Rice Is Kept off the Market.” Genetic Literacy Project, 20 Aug. 2022, https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2020/01/09/viewpoint-at-least-200000-people-die-every-year-gmo-golden-rice-is-kept-off-the-market/.
“Genetically Modified Organisms: The Golden Rice Debate.” NYU Langone Health, https://med.nyu.edu/departments-institutes/population-health/divisions-sections-centers/medical-ethics/education/high-school-bioethics-project/learning-scenarios/gmos-the-golden-rice-debate.
“Golden Rice Faqs.” International Rice Research Institute, 16 Aug. 2022, https://www.irri.org/golden-rice-faqs#:~:text=Golden%20Rice%20is%20developed%20through,improved%20the%20grain's%20nutritive%20value.
Golden Rice- a Transgenic Variety of Rice, with Genes for the Synthesis of B-Carotene, http://www.fbae.org/2009/FBAE/website/special-topics_golden-rice.html#:~:text=What%20is%20Golden%20Rice%3F,vector%2C%20to%20effect%20the%20transfer.
Supporting social movement struggles against free trade and investment agreements, et al. “Don’t Get Fooled Again! Unmasking Two Decades of Lies about Golden Rice.” GRAIN, https://grain.org/en/article/6067-don-t-get-fooled-again-unmasking-two-decades-of-lies-about-golden-rice.
“Which Is the First Country to Approve Genetically Modified ‘Golden Rice’?” GKToday, https://www.gktoday.in/question/which-is-the-first-country-to-approve-genetically-modified-golden-rice.
