UniMelb Scientists Developed Iron-fortified Rice

About one third of the world's population is experiencing iron deficiency. Since most of the developing world depends on white rice as primary source of carbohydrates, Dr. Alex Johnson from the University of Melbourne and team are developing iron-fortified rice. Through genetic engineering, they have increased the iron levels in white rice by up to 400 percent. They were able to identify the gene responsible for picking up iron in the rice plant, and used biotechnology to increase the activity of the gene.

These iron-fortified rice plants have been successfully grown in the laboratories and greenhouse environments, thus the next step is to test them in the field.

Dr. Johnson discussed their research further in a radio interview available at http://sciencematters.unimelb.edu.au/2011/10/fortified-rice-to-tackle-iron-deficiency-in-population/.