•Rice varieties enriched in pro-vitamin A – ‘the Golden rice’ – are being developed by a public-private partnership ensuring free access of the technology to developing countries. This technology allows to enrich rice grains in beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A, the deficiency of which causes dramatic health problems in poor countries, including blindness, morbidity and child mortality. Although the initial prototypes were much criticized by anti-GMO campaigners, ongoing research has improved the efficacy of pro-vitamin A accumulation, diversified the rice genetic backgrounds, addressed biosafety concerns, like the suppression of antibiotic resistance markers, and tested for agronomic performance of the enhanced varieties with the help of international and national research institutions. See Al-Babili and Beyer (2005) for the full story.(1)

Biofortification addresses mineral malnutrition by increasing the bioavailable concentrations of essential elements in edible portions of crop plants. Many people in developing countries subsist on cereal-based diets low in essential elements, especially iron and zinc, and gene technologies are being used to increase the bioavailable concentrations by enhancing plant capacities to take up, transport to the grain and store in a bioavailable form these minerals. GM also eliminates antinutrient compounds, like phytic acid, which sequesters the minerals in the edible plant organs.(2)

•

Suppression of allergens and of antinutrient compounds is another challenge. GM technology is also very efficient for knocking down the expression of target proteins, which can be enzymes producing toxic compounds (like cyagenic compounds in cassava) or allergens (like the major rice allergen)(3), leading to safer and hypoallergenic foodstuff. These products have not yet reached the market.

Profiling oil quality for preventing heart diseases. Soybean was genetically engineered to produce an oil with an increased ratio of monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fatty acids. This avoids the chemical hydrogenation of the oil before its food uses and the associated drawbacks regarding human health (increase in blood cholesterol). This is a first example on the market but others are following.

Increasing the content of essential amino acids, as exemplified by marketed maize varieties with higher lysine content. Maize grains are naturally deficient in lysine, an essential amino acid of animal diets and lysine overproduction could be achieved by genetically engineering its synthetic pathway, using a gene of bacterial origin. This innovation is dedicated to livestock feed but is a ‘proof-of-concept’ that re-balancing foodstuffs in essential amino acids is feasible via genetic engineering.