With GM rice, these problems are confronted, if not solved, its proponents say, as different strains of rice can be bred to withstand attack from pests, diseases and hostile environments. Not only that, they say, but GM rice can be bred to offer much higher nutritional values than regular rice can, supposedly combating the issues of malnutrition that are now endemic in the developing world. (According to the Golden Rice Network, around 1 billion pregnant women in Asia are Iron-deficient; 2 billion more lack Zinc; while 250 million children are Vitamin A deficient.)
As a result, the Philippine Rice Research Institute and Strive Foundation have developed a GM rice strain they are calling "3-in-1" rice that is packed with Vitamin A, Iron and Zinc, according to the Philippines Information Agency.
And Golden Rice, developed by Syngenta, is said to be loaded with so much beta-carotene that it can combat the issues of Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) to the point that some say it can even prevent blindness.
The original Golden Rice was launched onto the world stage in 2000 by Syngenta, and it has recently been improved to the extent that "Golden Rice 2" now contains 23 times as much beta carotene as the original. Scientists testing the strain say a serving of 200 grams should provide the recommended daily Vitamin A intake; challenging critics such as Friends of the Earth who previously said its claim of beating VAD were erroneous.
GM proponents are now even claiming that GM crops are more environmentally friendly than traditional crops. A study by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) claims that the effect of farmers in the U.S., Canada and Argentina in 2005 growing weed killer-resistant crops was the equivalent to taking 4 million cars off the road and preventing 9 billion kilograms (19.8 billion pounds) of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. The reason: Farmers planting these crops didn't need to plough the fields to destroy weeds, which meant the organic matter didn't get exposed to the atmosphere, releasing greenhouse gases in the process, according to the New Scientist.
Truemors
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at 16:51 on May 4th, 2008
"if there is a misuse for it."
There are far more beneficial uses - its just the naysayers don't bother to read facts or look at the benefits it offers them.
From CNN
GM rice proponents: Higher nutrition, environmentally friendly
With GM rice, these problems are confronted, if not solved, its proponents say, as different strains of rice can be bred to withstand attack from pests, diseases and hostile environments. Not only that, they say, but GM rice can be bred to offer much higher nutritional values than regular rice can, supposedly combating the issues of malnutrition that are now endemic in the developing world. (According to the Golden Rice Network, around 1 billion pregnant women in Asia are Iron-deficient; 2 billion more lack Zinc; while 250 million children are Vitamin A deficient.)
As a result, the Philippine Rice Research Institute and Strive Foundation have developed a GM rice strain they are calling "3-in-1" rice that is packed with Vitamin A, Iron and Zinc, according to the Philippines Information Agency.
And Golden Rice, developed by Syngenta, is said to be loaded with so much beta-carotene that it can combat the issues of Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) to the point that some say it can even prevent blindness.
The original Golden Rice was launched onto the world stage in 2000 by Syngenta, and it has recently been improved to the extent that "Golden Rice 2" now contains 23 times as much beta carotene as the original. Scientists testing the strain say a serving of 200 grams should provide the recommended daily Vitamin A intake; challenging critics such as Friends of the Earth who previously said its claim of beating VAD were erroneous.
GM proponents are now even claiming that GM crops are more environmentally friendly than traditional crops. A study by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) claims that the effect of farmers in the U.S., Canada and Argentina in 2005 growing weed killer-resistant crops was the equivalent to taking 4 million cars off the road and preventing 9 billion kilograms (19.8 billion pounds) of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. The reason: Farmers planting these crops didn't need to plough the fields to destroy weeds, which meant the organic matter didn't get exposed to the atmosphere, releasing greenhouse gases in the process, according to the New Scientist.