Figure 2: Farmer tending Asian rice field
People in overpopulated countries often rely on dietary carbohydrates (especially rice) to supply the majority of their caloric intake. The rice we eat lacks beta-carotene, a precursor to Vitamin A which is essential in our diets. Recent results of research funded by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Rockefeller Foundation show how to introduce to rice three enzymes that re-activate the beta-carotene pathway. This transgenic rice could provide the ingredient missing from a rice-dependent diet needed for synthesis of Vitamin A.