Sunday 1 February 2015

GM Rice: Is "Golden rice" better than normal rice?

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Golden rice, a type of rice created through genetic engineering in 1999 has made an impact on the world till today. It is a form of rice that is filled with ‘Beta-carotene’ which is a form of Vitamin A.
Beta-carotene gives "Golden rice" its “Yellow” or “Golden” appearance. Golden rice can be easily processed by our digestive system and provide us more energy with low fat content. It was created to combat rural areas countries with Vitamin A deficiency as more and more people are diagnosed with it especially children.Vitamin A deficiency can affect’s one eyesight, malnutrition, weaken their immune system and increase their chronic conditions and it can even cost death.
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Pros of Golden Rice

  • Lower Risk of Blindness, Infections, Cancers & Diseases
  • Reduce Gastrointestinal Distress
  • Reduces High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol
  • Low price food which makes it affordable for LDC to purchase
  • Provides a lot of energy, Vitamin A and can be easily digested
In addition, the newest form of golden rice (invented in 2005) which is also referred as Golden Rice 2 contains higher levels of beta-carotene than the original golden rice.
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Reasons for development of Golden Rice 2
  • To improve, enrich, support and enhance health and well-being
  • Lower the risk of a variety of health conditions and ailments.
  • Increase in Vitamin A as people said that it didn’t contain enough Vitamin A beneficially for reducing diseases risk.
Take a look at this video about the consumption of GM rice in India
By supplementing Vitamin A in a form of food has helped millions of people in a fast and cheap way because countries such as India has many poor people that do not have the ability to purchase supplements & medicine. Thus, by using Golden rice, it cost cheaper and it contains more nutrient compared to using normal rice.
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To me, Golden rice has no harm to us because of much it had helped people who are Vitamin A deficiency. Also, Golden rice did not harm anyone but instead boost everyone’s health instead thus, the production of Golden health is a cheap and effective way to help improve the health of people who are Vitamin A deficiency. How about your thoughts? Share with me by commenting on this post or leave your answer at the chat box!
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Schaub, P., Al-Babili, S, Drake, R & Beyer, P. (2005). Why is golden rice golden (yellow) instead of red? Plant Physiology 138 (1). 441–450.
Tang, G., Qin, J., Dolnikowski, G. G., Russell, R. M. & Grusak, M. A. (2009). Golden rice is an effective source of vitamin A. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 89(6). 1776–83.
Wright, S. Y., Hinchliffe, E. & Adams, J. L (2005). Improving the nutritional value of golden rice through increased pro-vitamin A content. Nature Biotechnology 23(4). 482–7.

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