Genetically modified rice

Later, these and other types of herbicide-resistant GM rice were approved in Canada, Australia, Mexico and Colombia.

[3] Reuters reported in 2009 that China had granted biosafety approval to GM rice with pest resistance,[4] but that strain was not commercialized.

[5] Research suggests that since rice is a staple crop across the world, improvements have potential to alleviate hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

[8] In 2000–2001 Monsanto researched adding glyphosate tolerance to rice but did not attempt to bring a variety to market.

Research scientists from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) and IRRI to are working to increase the amount of iron in rice.

The research team found that nicotianamine, iron, and zinc concentration levels increased in all three populations relative to controls.

The benefit of BT rice is that farmers do not need to spray their crops with pesticides to control fungal, viral, or bacterial pathogens.

[21] Resistance management is needed in southeast Asia to prevent loss of efficacy of Bt in rice.

[20] Japanese researchers tested genetically modified rice on macaque monkeys that would prevent allergies to cedar pollen, which causes hay fever.

The modified rice contains seven proteins from cedar pollen (7Crp) to block these symptoms by inducing oral tolerance.

[25] In 2015 a consortium of 12 laboratories in eight countries developed a cultivar that displayed a rudimentary form of C4 photosynthesis (C4P) to boost growth by capturing carbon dioxide and concentrated it in specialized leaf cells.

Ventria Bioscience uses a proprietary system known as Express Tec for producing recombinant human proteins in rice grains.

[29] These two proteins are produced naturally in human breast milk and are used globally in infant formula and rehydration products.

[36] In the summer of 2006, the USDA detected trace amounts of LibertyLink variety 601 in rice shipments ready for export.

[37] Approximately 30 percent of rice production and 11,000 farmers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas were affected.

[37] Japan and Russia suspended rice imports from the U.S., while Mexico and the European Union refused to impose strict testing.

They argued that this would not be a problem because rice is a self-pollinating crop, and their test showed less than 1% of the modified gene transferred in pollination.