UK environment secretary Owen Paterson believes that Golden Rice could prevent blindness and death among children in poor countries.
Anti-science progressives insist most science is dangerous and that biologists are just immoral tinkerers who don't think about safety.
Golden Rice has been developed to contain beta carotene, a source of vitamin A. The technology is open source, no company owns it, but supporter Syngenta says a single plateful can provide 60% of a child's daily vitamin A requirement, potentially reducing blindness and other illnesses that afflict millions of children in developing countries. According to the World Health Organisation, dietary vitamin A deficiency compromises the immune systems of about 40% of children under the age of five in the developing world.
Scientists says it could help save the lives of around 670,000 children who die each year from Vitamin A deficiency and another 350,000 who go blind.
The irrational stance against Golden Rice led Paterson to term opponents "wicked" in a recent interview, and said it is condemning the world's poorest and most at-risk to disease and death - while opponents mail out fundraising brochures from their cozy western office.
Opponents of third world GM crops are 'wicked', says Environment Secretary Owen Paterson by Oliver Wright, The Independent
