Engineering the Provitamin A (ß-Carotene) Biosynthetic
Pathway into (Carotenoid-Free) Rice Endosperm*

Prepared by Aaron Brown

aaronbro@otz.net

*287, 303 (2000)	July 31, 2000 Vol. 156 No. 5

Vitamin A deficiencies primarily affect vision

keratomalacia

xerophthalmia

increased susceptibility to infection

increased susceptibility to cancer

 

Vitamin A deficiency prominent in developing countries

124 million children worldwide

SE Asia: 250,000 children go blind anually

 

1-2 MILLION DEATHS ANNUALLY AMONG CHILDREN WORLDWIDE COULD BE PREVENTED BY IMPROVED NUTRITION

 

Rice (Oryza sativa) as provitamin A delivery vehicle in developing countries

lack of infrastructure for delivery of conventional oral supplements

staple food throughout developing world

endosperm constitutively synthesizes early carotenoid biosynthetic intermediate (geranylgeranyl diphosphate)

 

This paper presents initial results of attempts to produce transgenic rice as a dietary supplement of Vitamin A

 

 

 

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