It has been indicated that Golden Rice with even higher levels of beta-carotene exists. Would such a development stop ongoing work with the current events?
Syngenta has developed different genetic constructs that have the capacity to accumulate carotenoids at much higher levels than the original research showed (Paine et al. 2005). Further tests on the agronomic performance of the plants, and nutritional, cooking, taste, etc characteristics of Golden Rice will decide whether the GR1 constructs or the newest GR2 constructs will be optimal for alleviating VAD. The Humanitarian Board’s goal is to be able to provide the recommended daily intake for children in the usual daily amount of rice they consume. Syngenta will also be donating these newest SGR2 events to the Humanitarian Board. This does not yet change any of the programmed development work on the earlier SGR1 constructs. Events with both the higher and lower level of expression will progress side by side until properly informed decisions can be made about their potential in combating Vitamin A deficiency.
