Golden Rice

Rice

What is it?
Genetic engineering may offer the potential to create healthier, more nutritious foods. A prime example is "golden rice," whose yellow kernels contain beta-carotene—a source of vitamin A—thanks to genes transplanted from daffodils and bacteria.

Pros and Cons
Each year, more than a million people die because their diets lack vitamin A. Half a million more go blind. Because rice is the primary food for people in many countries, supporters claim that replacing white rice with golden rice could save thousands of lives each day.

Critics say golden rice will not deliver vitamin A to the people who need it most. The human body cannot convert beta-carotene into vitamin A unless fat and protein are also present, but the diets of malnourished people lack these nutrients. Instead of distributing genetically modified rice, critics ask, why not assist people who want to plant vegetables—or provide brown rice? These foods offer greater nutritional benefits than golden rice.

Many impoverished people are too poor to buy any food, and the vast majority of malnourished children live in countries with a food surplus. How will golden rice help people who can't afford to buy it? And those who can afford it may reject golden rice for the same reason they avoid carotene-rich brown rice: some cultures prefer white rice.

Modified for Nutrition

Potatoes
Potatoes are a low-fat, nutritious food-unless you soak them in oil. Unfortunately, that's exactly how potato chips and French fries are cooked. So genetic engineers are now developing a high-starch potato that absorbs less oil when it's fried. The results could be junk food that's just a little bit healthier.

Coffee

Coffee Beans
Though the caffeine in coffee is a welcome pick-me-up for most people, in others it can cause anxiety, palpitations, high blood pressure and insomnia. Today, one in five cups of coffee consumed in America is decaffeinated. Unfortunately, the caffeine-removal process reduces flavor, uses chemical solvents, and leaves up to 10% of the caffeine in the beans. Now genetic engineers have found a way to grow caffeine-free coffee and tea. Test plants are currently being grown in Hawaii.

Vegetable Oil

Vegetable Oils
Saturated fats increase the risk of clogged arteries and heart disease. So oil-producing seeds like soy, corn and canola are being genetically modified to contain less saturated fat. They are also being altered to withstand higher temperatures, so they can replace less-healthy animal fats in cooking, and to contain more vitamins. However, these improved oils will still contain the same amount of total fat, which contributes to obesity and other health problems.

Pigs
Health-conscious people want less fat in their pork. But when a farmer breeds his leanest pig, only half its genes are passed on to its children, and only one-quarter reach its grandchildren. Because cloning creates identical twins of the original, farmers are looking into cloning pigs and other animals, including chickens that lay eggs low in cholesterol. Cloning animals concerns some critics, in part because genetic diversity is important for fending off disease.

Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe?

Potential Risks
Allergens are a potential danger from all foods, including GMOs. For instance, soybeans modified with genes from Brazil nuts, to increase protein content, caused allergic reactions in some people in tests and had to be kept off the market. Interactions among genes are very complex-and not well understood. Tomato plants that were genetically modified to produce more carotene, for example, were unexpectedly dwarfed. Results like these point to a whole range of risks-those that are simply unknown.

A Higher Standard?

Are GMO foods less safe than other foods? Not necessarily. Conventional breeders create new species by exposing seeds to radiation and chemicals that induce genetic mutations-but unlike the precisely controlled changes in DNA created by genetic engineering, these mutations are random and unidentified. Some say GMO foods should be held to a higher standard of safety, because they contain combinations of genes that would never occur in nature and could create totally new hazards. Others say the safest approach is to test all new food products equally.