Production of "GOLDEN RICE", a genetically modified (GM) crop improvement programme, its history, methodology and drawbacks.

1. GoldenRice

2.  Golden rice is a variety of Oryza
sativa rice produced from
genetic engineering
 Biofortification-noun. The
creation of plants that make or
accumulate micronutrients
 Main purpose is to provide pro-
vitamin A to third world,
developing, countries where
malnutrition and vitamin A
deficiency are common
Introduction

4. Who Began the Golden
Rice Project?
 Started in 1982 by Ingo Potrykus-Professor emeritus of the
Institute for Plant Sciences
 Peter Beyer-Professor of Centre for Applied Biosciences, Uni.
Of Freiburg, Germany
 Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology, and Syngenta, a crop protection
company.  Golden Rice Humanitarian Board-
responsible for the global
development, introduction and free
distribution of Golden Rice to target
countries.

5. Malnutrition and VAD

6. Vitamin A Deficiency-Related Disorders (VADD)
VAD compromises the immune systems of approximately 40 percent of children under five in the
developing world, greatly increasing the severeness of common childhood infections, often leading to
deadly outcomes. VAD is most severe in Southeast Asia and Africa. For the 400 million rice-
consuming poor, the medical consequences are fatal: impaired vision—, in extreme cases irreversible
blindness; impaired epithelial integrity, exposing the affected individuals to infections; reduced
immune response; impaired haemopoiesis (and hence reduced capacity to transport oxygen in the
blood) and skeletal growth; among other debilitating afflictions.
Rice containing provitamin A could substantially reduce the problems described above. This can only
be achieved using genetic engineering because there is no provitamin A in the rice seeds, even though
it is present in the leaves. Thousands of rice varieties have been screened for this trait without
success. Existing coloured rice varieties contain pigments that belong to a different chemical class.

7. Effects of Malnutrition
 Symptoms of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) include; night
blindness, increased susceptibility to infection and
cancer, anemia (lack of red blood cells or hemoglobin),
deterioration of the eye tissue, and cardiovascular
disease
 Nearly 9 million children die from malnutrition each
year. A large proportion of those children die from
common illnesses that could have been avoided through
adequate nutrition
 The reduced immune competence increases the
morbidity and mortality rates of children

8. Vitamin A Deficiency-Related Disorders (VADD)
Golden Rice has the potential to complement existing efforts that seek to reduce blindness and other
VAD induced diseases. Those efforts include industrial fortification of basic foodstuffs with vitamin A,
distribution of vitamin supplements, and increasing consumption of other foods rich in vitamin A.
Those programs are successful mainly in urban areas but still around 45% of children around the world
are not reached by supplementation programs. Moreover, these programs are not economically
sustainable. Small countries, like Nepal or Ghana, require about 2 million dollars every year to run the
campaigns, in spite of the negligible cost of the vitamin A capsules. A large country like India cannot
afford to run country-wide programs, because the costs become prohibitive. There is no guarantee that
donors and governments will be able to carry on funding those programs year after year (UNICEF,
Micronutrient Initiative). Biofortified crops, like Golden Rice offer a long-term sustainable solution,
because they do not require recurrent and complicated logistic arrangements once they have been
deployed.

9. NORMAL RICE GOLDEN RICE

10. Why Rice?
 Other plants, such as sweet potatoes have varieties that are either
rich (orange-fleshed) or poor (white fleshed) in pro-vitamin A
 Carrots were originally white or purple in the 1600’s. A Dutch
horticulturist mutated the carrot to produce carotenes to symbolize
the color of the Dutch Royal House of Orange
 Global staple food. Cultivated for
over 10,000 years
 Rice provides as much as 80
percent or more of the daily caloric
intake of 3 billion people, which is
half the world’s population

11. How Does It Work?
 The addition of 2 genes in the rice
genome will complete the
biosynthetic pathway
 1. Phytoene synthase (psy) – derived
from daffodils
 2. Lycopene cyclase (crt1) – from soil
bacteria Erwinia uredovora
 Produces enzymes and catalysts for
the biosynthesis of carotenoids (β-
carotene) in the endosperm
 Presence of pro-vitamin A gives rice grains a yellowish-
orange color, thus, the name ‘Golden Rice’

12. IPP
Geranylgeranyl diphosphate
Phytoene
Lycopene
 -carotene
(vitamin A precursor)
Phytoene synthase
Phytoene desaturase
Lycopene-beta-cyclase
ξ-carotene desaturase
Daffodil gene
Single bacterial gene;
performs both functions
Daffodil gene
-Carotene Pathway Problem in Plants
IPP
Geranylgeranyl diphosphate
Phytoene
Lycopene
 -carotene
(vitamin A precursor)
Phytoene synthase
Phytoene desaturase
Lycopene-beta-cyclase
ξ-carotene desaturase
Rice lacks
these enzymes
CompleteVitaminAPathway

13. Goals: More is What We Aim For
 Mutate rice plants to produce carotenoids, or organic
pigments, specifically β-carotene (pro-vitamin A) in the
endosperm, the edible part of the grain
 Make Golden Rice accessible locally, free of charge to
farmers, who are able to grow, save, consume, replant
and locally sell Golden Rice
Vitamin A
(Retinol)

16. Golden Rice 2
In 2005, a team of researchers at Syngenta produced Golden Rice
2. They combined the phytoene synthase gene
from maize with crt1 from the original golden rice. Golden rice 2
produces 23 times more carotenoids than golden rice (up to
37 µg/g), and preferentially accumulates beta-carotene (up to
31 µg/g of the 37 µg/g of carotenoids).

17. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GOLDEN RICE 1 AND 2
 35 μg of carotinoids per gram of dry Golden rice 2
instead of 1.6 μg of carotinoids per gram of dry Golden
rice 1.
 More efficient phy gene introduced.
 Removal of CaMV 35S by polyubiquitin gene.
 Incorporation of phosphomannose-isomerase sugar-
based selection system instead of antibiotic selection
system.

19. Clinical trials/food safety and nutrition research
In 2009, results of a clinical trial of golden rice with adult
volunteers from the US were published in the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition. The trial concluded that "beta carotene
derived from golden rice is effectively converted to vitamin A in
humans”. A summary for the American Society for
Nutrition suggested that "Golden Rice could probably supply 50%
of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin A from
a very modest amount — perhaps a cup — of rice, if consumed
daily. This amount is well within the consumption habits of most
young children and their mothers".
It is well known that beta carotene is found and consumed in
many nutritious foods eaten around the world, including fruits and
vegetables. Beta carotene in food is a safe source of vitamin A.

20. The Food Allergy Resource and Research Program of
the University of Nebraska undertook research in 2006 that
showed the proteins from the new genes in golden rice showed
no allergenic properties.
In August 2012, Tufts University and others published research
on golden rice in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition showing that the beta carotene produced by golden
rice is as effective as beta carotene in oil at providing vitamin A
to children. The study stated that "recruitment processes and
protocol were approved”. In 2015 the journal retracted the
study, claiming that the researchers had acted unethically when
providing Chinese children golden rice without their parents'
consent.

21. Results
Human trial resulted in a speculation that 50 g uncooked
Golden Rice, which is a reasonable serving size for children
aged 4–8 y in rice eating regions, who eat ~130–200 g rice/d ,
would be able
to provide >90% of vitamin A estimated average requirement
(EAR) (275 μg retinol/d) or >60% of the Recommended
Dietary Allowance (RDA) which is 400 μg retinol/d.

22.  Social
 Political
 Environmental

23. People perceive anything
involving human manipulation as
being highly unnatural.
Opposition and delay

24.  Eat several kilograms of it to get their daily
requirement.
 Will change the food habit of the developing
countries
 Small farmers will lose their land and income
for being unable to compete with the corporate
industries

25. “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can
succeed.” – Abraham Lincoln.
Conclusion

26. REFERENCES
• https://en.wikipedia.org
• www.goldenrice.org
• www.irri.org
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
• https://www.ohio.edu
• site.iugaza.edu.ps