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Golden Rice: a biotechnology 20 years in the making Sarah Lloyd
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Golden Rice: a biotechnology years in the making
problem with that? But, as with most with anti-GM agendas to justify GM biotechnologies, Golden Rice has delayed approval of new biotechnolohad its fair share of hate—ranging from gical products. GM crops are investigmedia fear-mongering to flawed sci- ated from every possible angle, entific papers. entangling them in a never-ending net Environmental groups are often the of rules, guidelines, restrictions, and loudest critics. It isn’t so much Golden prohibitions. Supporters of Golden Rice they have an issue with; opposi- Rice have likened the clause to ‘guilty tion from these groups stems from a until proven innocent’. Delayed preconceived prejudice against all GM Golden Rice development as a result of crops. They fear the repercussions on these regulations has arguably led to
A‘ humanitarian panacea’. This bold the environment and human safety. avoidable losses of sight and life. headline was announced by Perhaps these concerns are fuelled by a However, there is hope. Many sci-
Golden Rice to the world in 2000. lack of understanding surrounding ge- entists have lobbied around GM crops. Constituting a genetically modi- netic modification. After all, sensation- In 2015, Golden Rice was formally refied (GM) strain of rice, this bio- alist headlines surrounding GM crops cognised as a humanitarian gametechnology was projected to have become an all too familiar sight. changer and received the Patent for prevent childhood blind- Regardless, some environmental Humanity Award by the White House ness and death in the de- groups persist in their efforts to thwart Office of Science and Technology veloping world. Two the production of GM crops. Policy. In 2016, over 100 Nobel Laurdecades on from its pub- Take Greenpeace. The organisation eates formally backed Golden Rice, lic debut, Golden Rice is still is particularly vocal in its disdain for helping to improve its profile. Even struggling to gain approval in Golden Rice, declaring it to be a hoax better, they didn’t just praise the most nations. What went wrong? created to divert resources from other product; they actively condoned those Golden Rice was created to ad- humanitarian efforts. They continue to against it, declaring, “How many poor dress the global Vitamin A defi- campaign against it to this day: numer- people in the world must die before we ciency. Estimated to affect over ous speeches, articles, petitions, and consider this a crime against human250 million children annually, this demonstrations have been held against ity?” deficiency can lead to blindness and Golden Rice. In one extreme incident, Golden Rice has even won over even premature death. Our bodies can- activists went as far as destroying a test some of those who originally opposed not synthesise Vitamin A; instead, we field of the GM crop. Despite continual it. Patrick Moore, one of Greenpeace’s must acquire the nutrient from the scientific rebuttal, their claims have founders, became outraged with his orfood we eat. Vitamin A deficiencies are created a general mistrust of GM food. ganisation’s continued disapproval and inherently linked to poor diet, there- Golden rice—a perfect concoction of launched a rival campaign: Allow fore developing countries are dispro- medicinal and humanitarian dreams Golden Rice Now. He has since organportionately affected. —represents a biotechnology that had ised protests across Europe.
Rice is a staple meal in many of the potential to win over the public. This ongoing support has led to these countries. While rice is a good But the biotechnology has not only great advances for the crop. In the last source of energy, it is naturally very faced opposition from activists: the few years, Golden Rice has been slowly low in Vitamin A. Golden Rice has crop has been caught up in a bureau- commercialised in target countries. been genetically modified to contain cratic war. The Precautionary Principle Thwarted by anti-GM activists and two additional genes, resulting in high- of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, weighed down with red tape, no crop er biosynthesis of beta-carotene. This an international trade deal agreed in has ever been so exhaustively criticised orange-coloured pigment is the pre- 2003, declared that if a biotechnologic- or researched. cursor for Vitamin A, hence the name al product posed a possible risk to hu- But the wait is almost over. In ‘Golden Rice’. Consuming Golden Rice man health, measures should be taken December 2019, the Philippines bewould thereby increase Vitamin A up- to restrict or prevent its introduction. came the first country to permit its take. Of course, safety should always be growth, with Bangladesh closely fol-
It sounds like a solid plan: improve top priority when it comes to imple- lowing suite in 2020. More countries the nutrient quality in staple crops and menting new technologies. However, will follow. This is a colossal victory in make them freely available to poor there are concerns that the clause con- a long and exhausting battle fought by farmers. How could anyone have a tains loopholes that allow politicians scientists and humanitarians alike.
