Goodbye to Golden Rice? GM Trait Leads to Drastic Yield Loss and "Metabolic Meltdown"

http://www.independentsciencenews.org/health/goodbye-golden-rice-gm-trait-leads-to-drastic-yield-loss/
Date Written:  2017-10-25
Publisher:  Independent Science News
Year Published:  2017
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21646

While proponents of Golden rice have blamed its failure to reach the market on "over-regulation" of GMOs and on "anti-GMO" opposition, the latest research suggests that problems intrinsic to GMO breeding are what have prevented researchers from developing Golden Rice suitable for commercialization.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt: GMO Golden Rice is promoted as a potent tool to alleviate vitamin A deficiency. However, Indian researchers now report that the genes needed to produce it have unintended effects. When they introduced the engineered DNA, their high-yielding and agronomically superior Indian rice variety became pale and stunted, flowering was delayed and the roots grew abnormally. Yields were so reduced that it was unsuitable for cultivation (Bollinedi et al. 2017).

Rice is a good source of certain nutrients but it lacks Vitamin A. In low-income households in certain countries, a rice-based diet can therefore result in vitamin A and other nutrient deficiencies.