IRRI chief volunteers to be human guinea pig for GM rice

WASHINGTON – International Rice Research Institute chief Dr. Robert Zeigler has said he will be the first to eat genetically modified (GM) “golden” rice when the IRRI introduces it in the Philippines in 2012 to show Filipinos it is both safe for human consumption and nutritious.

IRRI scientists over the past 10 years have been investigating and field testing the safety of this GM rice invented by a Swiss plant biologist which contains beta-carotene.

It is called “golden” because the inserted beta-carotene turns the rice grains a golden yellow color. In a typical serving, golden rice can supply 10 percent of a person’s daily requirement of Vitamin A.

Zeigler expects the price of golden rice to be slightly cheaper than ordinary rice but more important, he said, it will fill the nutritional needs especially of the poor.

“Many of the consequences of poverty are malnutrition, because if people are too poor to buy fruits and vegetables then they don’t get their vitamins. If we can supply that with rice that would be good,” he said.

He said the IRRI was working with the Philippine government to make sure all regulations are complied with.

“The Philippines has a very good regulatory framework; it is the most advanced in Asia and I would say we are complying with that very closely,” he said at a presentation organized in Washington by Asia Society.

Zeigler said another variety of rice transformed with insecticidal genes from Bacillus thuringiensis and known as BT rice will also likely be approved for human consumption by 2012 if not earlier.

BT rice is insect resistant and on average yields about 500 kilos more per hectare of land. It is undergoing field trials in a number of countries including China and India, he said.

“Farmers will not need to apply any insecticide on BT rice so cost of production will be less, the negative impact of improper insecticide use on the environment will be less, the impact on farmers’ health will be better and yield will be a bit more,” he said.