Arroz Dorado, cultivos dorados, perspectivas doradas

• Main Author: Mayer Cabrera Jorge E
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2007-07-01
• Series: Revista Colombiana de Biotecnología
• Subjects: Biofortification; micronutrient deficiency; vitamin A deficiency; carotenoids; beta-carotene; nutrigenomics; Biofortificación; deficiencia de micronutrientes; deficiencia de vitamina A; carotenoides
• Online Access: http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/biotecnologia/article/view/704

<p>Golden Rice is probably the best known second-generation—nutrition quality enhanced—transgenic  crop, but several others are following suit. Golden Rice was developed to deal with the problem of vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which affects millions of people all over the world, especially small children in developing countries. VAD not only causes blindness and increased morbidity, but a hitherto almost ignored increase in mortality. While ongoing supplementation and fortification programs are helping to reduce the burden, there is a strong need to develop biofortified crops capable of sustainably providing various micronutrients to target populations. Green biotechnology and progress in the biochemical understanding of the mechanisms of biosynthesis and accumulation pathways of micronutrients have not only paved the way to address VAD but also deficiency of the micronutrients iron, zinc, vitamin E, folate, and essential amino acids. Here I provide an overview of the progress and the political environment of the Golden Rice Project as well as the status of a number of related projects in biofortification.</p><p>Key words: Biofortification, micronutrient deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, carotenoids, beta-carotene, nutrigenomics</p>