GOLDEN RICE

Golden Rice (GR) refers to genetically modified rice developed to produce a Cartenoid called Beta-Carotene. This Beta-Carotene becomes Vitamin A when processed by the body and gives the rice grain the yellow orange or golden color, Hence the name Golden Rice. This Vitamin A is an essential nutrient needed to keep the body, specifically the eyes, healthy.Lack of Vitamin A can cause Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), damages the           immune system. Weak immune system is usually followed poor eyesight that can lead to Night Blindness, which may also result in permanent partial or total blindness if the depletion continues. And with the help of Golden Rice which is rich of Beta-Carotene that can fight against VAD.

In the question ,Is golden rice safe to eat? Golden Rice undergoes safety evaluation as it is developed. Therefore, golden rice, when released, will be safe to people and the environment. And through the help of the National Committee on BioSafety of the Philippines (NCBP) under the Department of Science and Technology and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) is providing regulatory oversight to Gm research under contained condition and non-living field trials. It is certain that this passed the stringent safety test of the aforementioned institutions.  There is overdose in Vitamin A but not in Beta-Carotene. Golden Rice has beta-carotene not Vitamin A so there will be no problem if a person eats a lot of golden rice. And this kind of rice has no difference in price compared to regular rice.  

And the first Golden Rice was developed by Dr. Ingo Potrykus and Dr. Peter Bayer in 2000, but upon realizing that they need additional skills and expertise to further improve their invention and to deliver it to countries where VAD is prevalent, they teamed up with Syngenta which produced Golden Rice with even higher level of beta-carotene. As of now, PhilRice is also developing a new golden rice variety ( so called 3-in-1 ) which will have resistance to tungro and bacterial blight , two of the most devastating rice disease in the country.