The purpose of the golden rice project was to create a new version of rice that makes beta-carotene, a source of vitamin A. (Beta-carotene is yellow, so rice that contains beta-carotene is golden in color.) The diet of people in poorer countries often lacks sufficient vitamin A. By creating rice that contains beta-carotene, the sponsors of the golden rice project hope to prevent some of the 1 to 2 million deaths and approximately 500,000 cases of irreversible blindness that are caused by vitamin A deficiency every year. Golden rice was produced by adding three genes to the rice genome—two from daffodil flowers and one from bacteria.
