The Future of GMO, Cloning and Other Controversies: Part II
(Feb. 15, 2007) In last week’s column, I bemoaned the “religious” zeal in opposition to GMO, which seeks to end any discussion by withdrawing funds for research. I said that such efforts reminded me of the Bush administration’s refusal to fund stem-cell research.
In that context, here are two inventions nearing production:
1) Introduction into the rice plant of three genes that produce beta carotene, which breaks down into vitamin A; and
2) Vaccines for hepatitis B and diarrhea that are incorporated into the cells of a banana.
Let’s look at the ramifications of these two developments.
For more than a third of the world’s population, rice is the dietary staple. Not “brown rice” - polished rice. Cultures throughout Asia regard polished rice as an icon. Sorry, brown rice is simply not an option. Like we feel about drinking sewage water that has been fully purified - not a scientific concern, an aesthetic, cultural one.
But polished rice is a poor source of vitamins. UNICEF puts the number of children suffering from vitamin A deficiency at over 100 million. As a result, millions of people lose their eyesight and millions more die from related infections. The new rice is called Golden Rice, partly because the betacarotene colors it, but also because, according to a Cornell food scientist, it is “the one accomplishment of genetic engineering that could alleviate more suffering and illness than any single medicine has done in the history of the world.”
One might imagine that - even though the multinational corporations will make large profits - anti-GMO-ists would see some virtue in this possibility.
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