-Angelus: January 30, 2001Decoding Rice
-Angelus: January 30, 2001
The genome of a variety of rice known as Nippon-Bare has now been mapped by researchers at Syngenta and Myria Genetics Inc. The release of this success has completely outstripped similar government efforts, which were nearly two years behind by comparison. Scientists have confirmed that the rice genome consists of 12 chromosomes with approximately 50,000 genes as a whole. This marks the second largest genome to be decoded to date. According to researchers, the similarity of the rice genome to cereal crops was an unexpected finding. They view this as an important map for discovering the genetic makeup of cereals and grains worldwide.
The significance of this particular discovery cannot be underestimated, as nearly 3 billion people worldwide rely on rice as a dietary staple. Roughly 90% is grown in Asia. Genetics has already created the so-called "golden rice" which was engineered to produce beta-carotene, the initial element needed by the human body to make vitamin-A.
While viewing such nutritional additions as positive, environmentalist organizations are concerned that while such discoveries will overall lower the price of such foodstuffs because they can now be mass produced, they fear that the control over this supply will rest solely with large multi-national corporations who will decimate the market capacity of local farmers. They say that genetics researchers must commit to sharing these findings and how to implement them successfully with developing countries so that poor farmers will not be under the thumb of larger corporate agri-business.
