Golden Rice: A Sustainable Solution to Combat Vitamin A Deficiency and Global Malnutrition

Abstract

Food modification has been recognized as an essential solution to combat food insecurity, particularly among vulnerable children in developing countries. Researchers used genetic engineering to infuse rice with the provitamin A pathway, yielding Golden Rice, a nutrient-enhanced variety with a higher percentage of β-carotene. By adopting Golden Rice, healthcare costs can be substantially reduced, making it a cost-efficient solution. The focus has now turned to establishing efficient pathways to get Golden Rice into the hands of farmers, an unprecedented approach in public sector research made possible by global research partnerships and collaborations. Scientists are currently conducting additional studies to boost the nutritional profile of Golden Rice even further. Keywords: Vitamin A deficiency, Golden rice, β-carotene, Genetic engineering, Agriculture Rice is one of the most important staple foods consumed by more than 3 billion people worldwide (Zafar and Jianlong, 2023). Globally, malnutrition is a serious problem causing millions of deaths, underdevelopment in children, and poor health of adult men and women (Datta and Bouis, 2000; Deepika et al., 2023). Several strategies have been adopted to produce rice enhanced in nutrients with iron and provitamin A. Genetic engineering of the metabolic pathway for β-carotene biosynthesis in endosperm was demonstrated in japonica type model rice cultivar, and the transgenic rice produced 1.6 μg/g total carotenoids (Ye et al., 2000).

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