Taiwanese scientists have created a genetically modified rice strain that contains 25 to 30 percent more vitamin B1 without diminishing yield, research project head Hsieh Ming-hsiun (謝明勳) said.
The research, which involves splicing genes that govern vitamin production in Escherichia coli with Taiwan’s indigenously developed rice variety Tainun 67, was published in The Plant Journal in November last year.
White rice, which is consumed as a staple food in most of East Asia, is produced by removing the bran and germ from the grain through polishing, said Hsieh, a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Unfortunately, the parts removed in the polishing process are also the main store of gluten and vitamin B1 in the grain, resulting in a loss of essential nutrition, he said.
Brown rice, which retains the bran and germs, is more nutritious than polished rice, but its rough texture is considered displeasing by most people, he said.
To improve public health and well-being, the research team headed by Hsieh sought to boost the vitamin B content in rice via genetic manipulation, he said, adding that the project took five years to complete.
A significant challenge that the team overcame was ensuring the designed crop had a high enough yield to make planting economically viable, he said.
Three years ago, a group of Dutch scientists had created gene-modified rice that contained two to three times the vitamin B of normal rice, but the variety’s poor yield prevented commercial success, he said.
The Academia Sinica team’s creation, which features an
identical yield to its parent variety, stores vitamin B1 in the grain itself, allowing the rice to be polished without losing nutritional value, he said.
Vitamin B1 deficiency could cause many conditions including swelling in the lower limbs, numbness, nerve damage, enlarged heart and digestive problems, Hsieh said, citing data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Taiwanese for the most part are free of vitamin B deficiency and cultivating genetically modified crops is prohibited by law, but the rice the team designed could still be useful for poor countries with a rice-dominant diet, he said.
The team is continuing work to increase the variety’s vitamin content and palatability, he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS