The Guardian

London, April 3:

British scientists have developed a genetically modified strain of rice they believe could combat childhood blindness and prevent deaths due to vitamin A deficiency. The plant is an improved version of ‘golden rice’, a GM crop released five years ago that is enriched in beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. The release of golden rice met with widespread criticism from anti-GM groups, which claimed it did not contain enough beta-carotene to have any beneficial effect. The new strain, golden rice 2, contains more than 20 times the amount of beta-caro-tene in its predecessor from just 70 gram of rice.