Golden Rice (Potrykus and Beyer)
Arroz Dorado (Potrykus y Beyer)
- Date
- 1999-2000 · confidence high
- Place
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
- Credited to
- Ingo Potrykus (ETH Zurich) and Peter Beyer (University of Freiburg)
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Potrykus and Beyer introduced into rice genes from daffodil and a bacterium so the grain accumulates beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. It was conceived as a humanitarian remedy for vitamin A deficiency, a cause of blindness and child mortality in Southeast Asia.
Ye et al. published in Science in January 2000. The Philippines approved planting of the GR2E variety in 2021, but an appeals court suspended it in 2024; it has not been grown at commercial scale.
What it led to
- Golden Rice 2 (Syngenta, 2005), with maize phytoene synthase and higher carotene content
- varieties for the Philippines and Bangladesh (IRRI and PhilRice)
- debate on transgenic crops for nutrition and NGO opposition