18/2/2001

Golden rice: risposta a Greenpeace

Uno dei ricercatori che si sta occupando del Golden Rice e' il Prof. Ingo Potrykus. Ecco cosa ha risposto alle accuse di Greenpeace in merito all'efficacia del Golden Rice. Sostanzialmente dice che

1. La mancanza di consumo di Vitamina A per un lungo periodo ha cambiato il bisogno metabolico di questo nutriente. Pertanto anche una piccola quantita' di Vitamina A ha potenzialmente un grosso impatto sulle patologie e sulla mortalita'.

2. Ancora non si sa quanta Vitamina A ci sara' in ogni grammo di Golden Rice. Questo dato sara' disponibile solo tra 1-2 anni.

"Here follows a citation from one of the responses to my "wrong" view: "As I would assume you know, there is vast difference in the amount of vitamin A

needed to reduce mortality, vs that needed to prevent blindness, vs that needed to prevent night-blindness and other like symptoms, vs that which satisfies actual metabolic needs, vs that which is equal to the recommended allowance, vs that which migt be considered for optimal intake, vs that which might trigger toxicity symptoms. The vastness of those quantitative differences is further exaggerated in individuals whose metabolic need for this essential nutrient has been modified by an extended period of depriviation. Clearly in individuals whose diet is almost devoid of vitamin A dietary intake at levels representing only a small fraction of the "recommended allowance" offers the potential to have a significant impact on both morbidity and mortality." When I stated that I acknowleged that Greenpeace had identified a weak point in our strategy, I referred to the fact that only experimental data gained from nutrition studies with Golden Rice varieties could clarify how much provitamin A we would need to offer per gram of rice. This data will be available only after 1-2 years from now. With this data in hand, the optimal

lines can then be determined for the final breeding adjustment. I invite Greenpeace activists to specify in which area they see potential problems so that we can take care of these concerns in the process of the needs assessment and the extended safety assessments. But I expect concrete proposals, not blunt statements like "it is too dangerous to release transgenic plants into the environment". Please take the trouble to think about the case of Golden Rice. To those who feel that they must prevent Golden Rice under all circumstances (for whatever political, ethical, religious reason) I would like to repeat: Golden Rice will be used to complement traditional interventions to fight vitamin A-deficiency. We need complementation because of the 500,000 blind children per year we have on the background of traditional interventions. If you plan to destroy test fields to prevent responsible testing and development of Golden Rice for humanitarian purposes, you will be accused of contributing to a crime against humanity. Your actions will be carefully registered and you will, hopefully, have the opportunity to defend your illegal and immoral actions in front of an international court."

Prof. Dr. Ingo Potrykus

Im Stigler 54

CH-4312 Magden, Switzerland