Basel, Switzerland
May 25, 2005
Golden Rice
speaks
By Robert Derham,
Checkbiotech
If Golden Rice could speak, it
would probably tell its story through the voices of Dr. Ingo
Potrykus, Dr. Peter Beyer and Adrian Dubock. Now, The
Syngenta Foundation
website is offering a rare opportunity to hear each one of
their stories, and how they took Golden Rice from the drawing
board to reality.
Last year, designated by the
United Nation as the Year of Rice, The Syngenta Foundation for
Sustainable Agriculture asked the two inventors of Golden Rice,
Drs. Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer, to talk about their
discovery and about its future. In addition, The Syngenta
Foundation also invited Adrian Dubock to talk about Syngenta’s
role in the Golden Rice project (click
here for the video presentations).
A Concept is Born
The story starts in the early
1990’s, at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology, Zurich
with a unique idea from Dr. Ingo Potrykus. He saw that millions
world-wide suffered from blindness and other diseases related to
vitamin A deficiencies. He knew that the areas most affected
relied on rice in their diet, and thus embarked on a journey to
develop rice that would produce pro-vitamin A, or beta-carotene,
on its own, which the human body can then use to produce vitamin
A.
In an
editorial to the scientific journal Plant Physiology, Dr.
Potrykus noted, “In the short history of GMO research, ‘Golden
Rice’ is unique in having been embraced by the public-at-large.
The reason for this, I believe, lies in its emotional appeal –
people are truly concerned about the fate of blind children, and
they are willing to support a technology that offers the
children at risk the opportunity to avoid blindness.”
Armed with the understanding of genetic engineering, Dr.
Potrykus teamed up with Dr. Beyer at the University of Freiburg.
Dr. Beyer brought the essential understanding of the genetics
and biochemistry of pro-vitamin A, or beta-carotene, production
in plants that would help ensure the project’s success.
During his video presentation, Dr. Beyer suggests,
“Micronutrient deficiencies are a major problem throughout the
developing world, among others vitamin A.”
“Poverty reasons may lead to a predominant consumption of staple
foods like rice, and as a consequence people will suffer from
vitamin A deficiencies, because rice does not contain any
beta-carotene.”
Dr. Beyer presents a case for producing biofortified crops, such
as Golden Rice, due to the cost of intervention strategies that
are intended to prevent micronutrient deficiencies. In most
cases, this comes in the form of vitamin supplementation,
industrial fortification (fortified food products, such as
cereal and milk) or education.
Yet, Dr. Beyer notes that all supplementation programs have
their limitations and suggests that “we would like to have
plants do the biofortification themselves,” because it would
solve the root of the problem. If developing countries could be
given seeds that would grow Golden Rice, vitamin A
supplementation dependency would essentially be done away with.
Roadblocks
Being the father of the project,
in Dr. Potrykus’ video presentation, he conveys a sense of
urgency. This is quite understandable when considering that
millions suffer from vitamin A deficiencies.
He starts his presentation with an acknowledgement to Syngenta,
where he highlights, “I would like to extend my warmest regards
to Syngenta for their support.”
He continues by adding, without Syngenta’s help and direction,
biofortified rice would have remained a “scientific curiosity,
but it would not have contributed to solve vitamin A deficiency.
We public scientists would have not been able to make this
possible.”
Dr. Potrykus’ frustrations are further complicated by what he
labels “roadblocks.” Two that stand at the forefront are the web
of regulatory rules and propaganda surrounding genetically
modified crops.
“The roadblocks that we are faced with are not what we expected
in the beginning, mainly the extreme regulatory roadblocks. If
it continues the technology will not benefit the poor.”
He further expresses his dissatisfaction with many groups that
seek to defame Golden Rice. “The propaganda from groups is
simply not true,” which was Dr. Potrykus’ response to some NGOs
who claim that an average diet of rice cannot be supplemented
with Golden Rice to meet the human daily recommended allowances
(RDA) for vitamin A.
In defense of his enhanced rice, Dr. Potrykus shows that from a
diet of 200 grams of Golden Rice (SGR1), it would be possible to
reach the RDA for women and approximately 85% for children. Yet,
with a new Golden Rice variety (SGR2) that contains an estimated
10 times as much beta-carotene as the first variety of Golden
Rice, he argues that false and detrimental propaganda against
Golden Rice “is simply not true.”
A photograph shown during the video presentation clearly depicts
the increase in pigmentation from normal rice (white) to SGR1
(golden) to SGR2 (dark orange). After showing the photo, Dr.
Potrykus also hints at other transgenic rice varieties, yet to
come, that will have even higher amounts of beta-carotene than
SGR2.
Where Public meets Private
Often accused of having a hidden
agenda, in his presentation Adrian Dubock quickly lays to rest
any false propaganda surrounding Syngenta’s current
participation in the Golden Rice project.
“Today Syngenta has no commercial interest in Golden Rice, but
as you can see the support for the humanitarian project
continues.”
Dubock addresses the concern that some have regarding
public-private ventures, such as Golden Rice. Where many applaud
the growing trend, there is an equally vocal audience that
disapproves.
Yet, Dubock numerates the weaknesses of the public sector and
the private sector, and notes how the strengths of each partner
cancel out the prevailing weaknesses.
Equally contested is the notion of patents and licenses. Dubock
thoroughly explains the licensing agreement that Syngenta, Dr.
Potrykus and Dr. Beyer drew up for Golden Rice. The agreement
clearly explains that Golden Rice will be made freely available
to poor farmers, who can trade Golden Rice locally – thus ending
the concern that genetically engineered crops run the risk of
creating dependency for farmers.
He further explains how licensing agreements facilitate
regulatory submissions, increase outside participation, define
publication policies with regards to research and over all, they
simply provide clarity for all participating parties.
An Invitation
The Syngenta Foundation invites
everyone to watch the videos and hear what Golden Rice has to
say through its spokespeople. The videos will provide answers to
the following questions:
· Why Golden Rice
· What daily intake of Golden Rice is estimated to help reduce
VAD
· Who owns Golden Rice
· Can farmers freely reuse seed
· What is the taste of Golden Rice
· Are there cultural issues with eating colored rice
· What are the environmental effects
· When and where will Golden Rice become available
For access via the internet, or to order a free copy of the
video presentations, please click
here. |
