Golden Rice Project Brief 2012

Golden Rice and vitamin A deficiency
Golden Rice is a new type of rice that contains beta carotene, a source of vitamin A. Leading nutrition and agricultural research organizations are working together to evaluate Golden Rice in the Philippines and Bangladesh as a potential new way to reduce vitamin A deficiency.
The need
Many people in the developing world do not get enough vitamin A or beta carotene from the food they eat, contributing to the serious public health problem of vitamin A deficiency. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 190 million children and 19 million pregnant women are affected globally.1 Vitamin A deficiency impairs the immune system, which increases the risk of death from certain common infections among young children. Globally, approximately 670,000 children die every year because they are vitamin A deficient. 2 It is also the leading cause of blindness among children with approximately 350,000 children going blind each year.3 Vitamin A deficiency also particularly affects women who are pregnant or nursing as their nutrient needs increase: among pregnant women, vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and may increase the risk of death during or shortly after their pregnancy. Vitamin A deficiency is often severe in countries where people primarily consume nutrient-poor staple foods and where other nutritious food is scarce, unavailable, or too expensive. Rice is the staple food crop for more than half of the worlds population, and is especially important in Asia. Rice is an affordable, filling and popular food, but it is not a source of vitamin A.
Rice is a popular and filling food, but is not a source of vitamin A.
In Southeast Asia, where rice is typically eaten every day and often at every meal, over 90 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, more than in any other region.1 The most vulnerable children and women in hardto-reach areas are often missed by existing interventions that can improve vitamin A status, including vitamin A supplementation, food fortification, dietary diversification, and promotion of optimal breastfeeding. For example, vitamin A supplementation programs that governments have implemented to control vitamin A deficiency among young children still miss about 1020 percent of some of the most vulnerable children.
Golden Rice is unique because it contains beta carotene, which gives it a golden color. When people eat food containing beta carotene, it is converted to vitamin A as needed by the body. Recent studies estimate that eating about one cup a day of Golden Rice could provide half of an adults White rice grains compared vitamin A needs.5 to Golden Rice. Because rice is widely produced and consumed, Golden Rice has the potential to reach many people, including those who do not have reliable access to or cannot afford other sources of vitamin A. Golden Rice is intended to be used in combination with existing approaches to reduce vitamin A deficiency, including eating foods that are high in vitamin A or beta carotene (such as fortified foods), taking vitamin A
Golden Rice
supplements, and promoting optimal breastfeeding practices. Golden Rice was developed using genetic modification techniques, with genes from maize and a common soil microorganism that together produce beta carotene in the rice grain. Golden Rice was first developed by Professor Ingo Potrykus, then of the Institute for Plant Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Professor Peter Beyer of the University of Freiburg, Germany, and is a gift to resource-poor farmers in developing countries from these inventors. Scientific research and international collaboration on Golden Rice have been supported by funding and in-kind donations from the private, public, and philanthropic sectors.
The Golden Rice project in the Philippines and Bangladesh

Leading nutrition and agricultural research organizations are working together to develop and evaluate Golden Rice as a potential new way to reduce vitamin A deficiency in the Philippines and Bangladesh.
Our work will

Develop Golden Rice varieties for the Philippines and Bangladesh.
Breeders at the Philippine Rice Research Insitute (PhilRice) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) are developing Golden Rice versions of existing rice varieties that are popular with their local farmers, retaining the same yield, pest resistance and grain qualities. Cooking and taste tests will be done to help make sure that Golden Rice meets consumers needs. Golden Rice seeds are expected to cost farmers the same as other rice varieties.
Evaluate whether consumption of Golden Rice improves vitamin A status.

If Golden Rice has been approved by national regulators, Helen Keller International (HKI) will evaluate whether Golden Rice is efficacious, meaning it reduces vitamin A deficiency. Working with other international experts and local partners, a study under controlled community conditions will be conducted to determine if eating Golden Rice every day improves vitamin A status and could therefore contribute to the reduction of vitamin A deficiency.
Help assess the safety of Golden Rice.

To help assess the safety of Golden Rice in the environment, field tests and other evaluations will be done in both the Philippines and Bangladesh. Golden Rice will be analyzed according to internationally accepted guidelines for food safety. PhilRice and BRRI plan to submit all safety information to government regulators, who will review these data as part of the approval process for Golden Rice before it can be made available to farmers and consumers.
Explore how Golden Rice could reach those most in need.

If Golden Rice is found to be safe and efficacious, a sustainable delivery program will be designed to ensure that Golden Rice is acceptable and accessible in vitamin A deficient communities. IRRI and others will continue to work together to introduce Golden Rice in the Philippines and Bangladesh as another approach to reducing vitamin A deficiency, if the work in this project is successful.
Our work aims to develop Golden Rice varieties that grow as well as other varieties.
Participating organizations
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is a nonprofit independent research and training organization, the largest in the world focused on rice. IRRI is leading and coordinating this project and is directly involved in breeding, capacity building, and safety research. The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is the national agricultural research organization for rice in the Philippines. PhilRice is developing Golden Rice varieties tailored to the Philippines and will conduct safety research needed by Philippine regulatory authorities. The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) is the national agricultural research organization for rice in Bangladesh. BRRI is developing Golden Rice varieties suitable for Bangladesh and will conduct safety research needed by Bangladesh regulatory authorities.
Helen Keller International (HKI) is an international nongovernmental organization that prevents blindness and reduces malnutrition for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in the world. HKI, with university partners, will evaluate the efficacy of Golden Rice to see whether consumption improves vitamin A status. Support for this project includes a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development. References:
1, 4. [WHO] World Health Organization Global Database on Vitamin A Deficiency. 2009. Global prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in populations at risk, 19952005. Geneva: WHO. 2. Black, RE et al. 2008. Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences. The Lancet 371(9608):243260. 3. Whitcher JP, Srinivasan M, Upadhyay MP. 2001. Corneal blindness: a global perspective. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 79(3):214221. 5. Tang G, Qin J, Dolnikowski GG, Russel RM, Grusak MA. 2009. Golden Rice is an effective source of vitamin A. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 89:17761783.
Dr. Gerard Barry checks in on Golden Rice in an IRRI screenhouse.
(From right to left): Dr. Parminder Virk, IRRI senior scientist; Dr. Alamgir Hossain, BRRI principal plant breeder; and Dr. Antonio Alfonso, PhilRice plant breeder and Golden Rice project leader.
For more information, contact: Gerard Barry Golden Rice Network Coordinator International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) +63 2 580 5600 (ext. 2467) [email protected]
www.irri.org/goldenrice
February 2012

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Golden Rice and vitamin A deficiency

Rice is a popular and filling food, but is not a source of vitamin A.

The Golden Rice project in the Philippines and Bangladesh

Our work will

Evaluate whether consumption of Golden Rice improves vitamin A status.

Help assess the safety of Golden Rice.

Explore how Golden Rice could reach those most in need.

Dr. Gerard Barry checks in on Golden Rice in an IRRI screenhouse.

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