1. GoldenRice TM - a success story

2. Vitamin A deficiency in developing countries Lack of vitamin A is the leading cause of blindness among children in developing countries –250,000 children per year go blind –124 million children worldwide are deficient in vitamin A Oral delivery is difficult because of lack of infrastructure

3. GoldenRice Rice is a major staple food in Asia The outer oil-rich, nutritious aleurone layer is usually milled because it turns rancid upon storage in tropical areas The remaining endosperm lacks provitamin A (  carotene)

4. The scientific challenge Immature unengineered rice endosperm makes the carotene precursor, phytoene (colorless) Remaining enzymes needed for  - carotene synthesis are not expressed Solution: Add remaining enzymes to endosperm so that  -carotene synthesis can occur

5. The scientific accomplishment Ingo Potrykus and colleagues engineered rice to contain genes for three enzymes from daffodil 3 phytoene desaturase   -carotene desaturase  lycopene  -cyclase The resulting rice endosperm can yield 100 mg retinol equivalent / 300 g rice Ye et al. (2000) Science 287: 303-309

6. The challenge of intellectual property rights In the process of developing golden rice, between 40 and 70 patented materials or processes were used. Each owner of the patented materials could claim a right (and ask for monetary compensation) for use in golden rice. However, all owners of patented and technical properties agreed to license their products for golden rice production for free Potrykus, 2001. Golden rice and beyond. Plant Physiology 125:1157.

7. What’s next? Golden rice was developed in a laboratory strain of rice Next step is to use traditional breeding to introduce the  -carotene production into strains of rice that grow well in developing countries –India –China –Africa –Latin America

8. Overcoming the GMO opposition Golden rice fulfills the wishes of the GMO opposition It was not developed by industry, and industry does not benefit from it It presents a sustainable, cost-free solution, not requiring other resources It is given free of charge and it benefits the poor and disadvantaged It does not create new dependencies on, or advantages for, rich landowners It can be resown every year from saved seed It does not reduce agricultural or natural biodiversity It does not present any negative impact on the environment or risk to human health

9. Golden Rice is a success