Description
Book SynopsisThe first book to tell the shocking story of Golden Rice, a genetically modified grain that provides essential Vitamin A and can save lives in developing countriesif only they were allowed to grow it. Ordinary white rice is nutrient poor; it consists of carbohydrates and little else. About one million people who subsist on rice become blind or die each year from vitamin A deficiency. Golden Rice, which was developed in the hopes of combatting that problem by a team of European scientists in the late '90s, was genetically modified to provide an essential nutrient that white rice lacks: beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body. But twenty years later, this potentially sight- and life-saving miracle food still has not reached the populations most in needand tens of millions of people in India, China, Bangladesh, and throughout South and Southeast Asia have gone blind or have died waiting. Supporters claim that the twenty-year delay in Golden Rice's introduction is an
Trade ReviewGolden Rice is a thoughtful and carefully documented tale of how difficult it can be to take something that works in the laboratory and get it to the people who stand to benefit from it.
—Andrew J. Wight,
ScienceIn just over 200 pages, Regis gives a crash course on genetic engineering and explains the messy history of Golden Rice, disabusing the reader of many popular myths along the way.
—
The Genetic Literacy ProjectTable of ContentsPreface
Chapter 1. Child Killer
Chapter 2. Proof of Concept
Chapter 3. GR 0.5 and Beyond
Chapter 4. The Protocol
Chapter 5. What Is a GMO?
Chapter 6. Safe to Eat?
Chapter 7. Golden Rice 2
Chapter 8. Better Than Spinach
Chapter 9. The Mistake
Chapter 10. The "Crime against Humanity"
Chapter 11. The Approvals
Epilogue. The Proactionary Principle
Acknowledgments
Appendix. L'affaire Schubert
Bibliography
Index
