'Golden rice' variety of rice shows:

Concept:

• Golden rice is a transgenic rice variety.
• It is a genetically modified plant obtained through recombinant DNA technology.
• These are generated by introducing foreign DNA into a cell and regenerating a plant from that cell.

Important Points

• Genetically modified plants are being widely used for crop cultivation purpose.
• The genetic modifications have improved many factors such as-
  • The crops have been made to become more tolerant to abiotic stresses like cold, drought, salt, heat etc.
  • Pest resistant crops have reduced the dependence on chemical pesticides. E.g. - Bt-cotton
  • The post harvest losses have been reduced.
  • The efficiency of usage of minerals by the plants has increase. (This stops the early depletion of fertility of soil).
  • The nutritional value of the food has been enhanced. E.g. - Golden rice

Additional Information

• Golden rice is a vitamin A-enriched rice variety.
• It contains good quantities of β-carotene, which is the precursor of vitamin A.
• This gives the characteristic yellow colour to the grains, and hence the name 'golden' rice.
• It is also one of the example of successfully biofortified food.