New Type of Rice to Help Third World Countries
Farmers in North Carolina are growing a new type of rice that could be used to help young children in Third World countries (Biotech Company Planting Genetically Engineered Rice in North Carolina, Winston-Salem Journal, 7/16/05).
With approval of two permits from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ventria Bioscience, a biotechnology company based in Sacramento, California, planted 75 acres of rice in North Carolina in June 2005 that has been genetically engineered to produce proteins found in human milk, saliva, and tears. The company explained that the proteins it will extract from the rice could eventually be used in a variety of foods such as granola bars, sports drinks, or even formula used to rehydrate infants in Third World countries in order to help them avoid death from diarrhea.
The rice has been planted on private land near the state-owned Tidewater Research Station, an agricultural research station in Plymouth, North Carolina. Researchers also use a nursery at the research station, less than a mile from the test site, to grow seed stock for new varieties of rice.
Environmentalists and food vendors, however, claim the rice poses a threat to other crops and to the human food chain. At least two scientists, according to published reports, wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture stating there is a remote possibility that pollen or disease from Ventria’s rice could contaminate rice grown in nearby areas and distributed to rice growers nationwide.
According to news articles, Ventria Bioscience said that the risks posed by the environmentalists are overstated and that the company is working to take every precaution to isolate its rice. The company built an 18-inch dike at the North Carolina test site to keep water in the field and a dedicated ditch that only provides water to the field. The water is also screened before leaving the test area to keep the rice from traveling. Once harvested, the rice would not enter the food supply as grain, but be pulverized into a powder.
Even researchers at North Carolina State University are getting involved in this project. These researchers are currently monitoring the project and are working to investigate many of the claims from environmentalists and the food industry that the rice crops could migrate, cross-pollinate with other plants, and contaminate the human food supply.
The Ventria rice project can offer much promise both now and in the future. The proteins grown in these rice crops could have a huge impact on the health and well-being of people around the world, especially young children. Growing proteins in rice can also be cost effective, costing a mere few cents per pound, rather than hundreds of dollars per ounce as they can cost now. For the farmers in North Carolina, this new project could offer new opportunities for economic growth. Despite worries from those opposed to this project, the demand for products grown from plants will continue as the acceptance of such products by the general public grows daily.
