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| Biography |
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PhD in Plant Genetics 1968 at Max-Planck-Institute, Cologne, Germany; Ass.
Professor, Institute of Plant Physiology, Stuttgart 1970-74. Research Group Leader, Max-Planck-Institute, Ladenburg 1974-76; Research Group Leader, Friedrich Miescher-Institute, Basel, Switzerland 1976-86; Full Professor in Plant Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zuerich 1986-99.
Contributions to food security in developing countries. Focusing on development and application of genetic engineering technology for and to "food security" crops such as rice (Oryza sativa), wheat (Triticum aestivum), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and cassava (Manihot esculenta).
Focusing on problems areas of disease- and pest resistance, improved food quality, improved yield, improved exploitation of natural resources, and improved bio-safety. Inventor of "Golden Rice" and chairman of Humanitarian Golden Rice Board and Network.
KUMHO (ISPMB) Science International Award in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology 2000. American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Leadership in Science Public Service Award 2001. Crop Science of America (CSSA) Klepper Endowment Lectureship 2001, CSSA President’s Award 2002, European Culture Award in Science 2002, Honorary Doctor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 2002.
Member Academia Europaea, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Hungarian Acaemy of ciences, World Technology Network, Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences, Cover TIME Magazine July 31, 2000.
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| Abstract |
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Golden Rice and Beyond – the Power of Biofortification. |
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Rice is the major diet for over 2 billion poor in developing countries. It is an excellent source of calories, but poor in micro nutrients. The consequence is widespread micro nutrient deficiency. Since the early 90’s a concept is gaining attention, proposing to aim at directed improvement of the nutrient content by using the potential of genetics: ‘biofortification’. ‘Golden Rice’ is the first successful GMO-case. Since the first ‘proof of concept’ (1), science has progressed such that ‘Golden Rice’ provides the amount of provitamin A from a standard diet necessary, to prevent vitamin A malnutrition (2). Within the framework of a humanitarian project ‘Golden Rice’ is carried through ‘product development’ and ‘deregulation’ and will be made available, to subsistence farmers in developing countries, free of costs. Ex ante studies have indicated that adoption of ‘Golden Rice’ would have dramatic health and economic benefits (3). Extreme precautionary regulation delays use of ‘Golden Rice’ for a minimum of 6 years and is, therefore, responsible for many avoidable deaths. Other, even more important micro nutrient deficiencies relate to iron, zinc, and essential amino acids. This challenge has been taken up since the middle of the nineties (4), and a breakthrough should be expected within the next five years from the ‘Grand Challenges in Global Health’ initiative of the Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation. Thanks to generous funding international research consortia have been established to work on ‘Golden Rice’ complemented by ‘high iron’, ‘high zinc’, and ‘high quality protein’. And this concept is extended to cassava, sorghum, and banana (5). Citations: (1) Ye et al., Science 287: 2000 ; (2) Paine et al., Nature Biotechnology 23: 2005; (3) Anderson et al., Journal of Economic Integration 20 (4) 2005 ; (4) Lucca et al., Theor.Appl.Genetics 102 : 2001 ; (5) www.goldenrice.org ; (6) www.grandchallengesgh.org. |
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