Imagine there was a superfood that could potentially save more than one million lives every year, as well as stopping hundreds of thousands of children going blind. The good news is that it exists. It’s called “golden rice”.
The bad news is that the best current chance to get the crop into cultivation and ultimately to reach the people whose life-chances it could alter has just been blown, after a court in the Philippines ruled that it could not be commercially grown in the country.
A spokesperson for Greenpeace South-East Asia, which had been campaigning for the ruling, said it was “a monumental win for Filipino farmers and Filipino people who have for decades stood up against genetically modified crops”. She went on to claim that “GM crops have never been proven safe, and have hindered necessary progress on climate-resilient ecological agriculture that keeps the control of seeds on our farmers”.
The executive secretary of the golden rice Humanitarian Board, Adrian Dubock, put it differently. Calling the court’s decision “extremely alarming”, he said “planting golden rice was not being done for profit. Nobody was trying to control what farmers grow or control what people eat. It was being done to save lives”.
golden rice was invented for a purpose. Vitamin A deficiency is what causes the deaths and blindness I mentioned above, and it severely affects areas in Africa and Asia where many subsist on little more than bowls of rice. That’s a problem since normal rice plants do contain beta carotene – which the human body converts into Vitamin A – but not in the parts we eat. So two scientists, Ingo Potrykus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Peter Beyer of the University of Freiburg, spent eight years in the 1990s working out how to genetically engineer a form of rice that had beta carotene in the edible grain. golden rice – so called after its colour – was the result.
The ruling in the Philippines may prove a deterrent to other countries, where growing Golden Rice was being considered
Years of testing and trials followed. In 2018, the US and Canada approved golden rice safe for human consumption, and the following year the Philippines – where a government survey found 15.5 per cent of under six-year-olds suffered from Vitamin A deficiency – followed suit. In 2021, it became the first country to give the official go-ahead for commercial cultivation of the crop, but a series of legal challenges led to last month’s decision to revoke the biosafety permits that had been granted to the University of the Philippines Los Banos and the Philippine Rice Research Institute.
One of the reasons why the crop is not already in mass production is, as Ed Regis, author of golden rice: The Imperiled Birth of a GMO Superfood, wrote, “every aspect of golden rice development – from lab work to field trials to screening for ‘regulatory clean events’ – was entangled in a byzantine web of rules, guidelines, requirements, restrictions, and prohibitions”. This was partly a result of a highly cautious protocol adopted by more than 100 countries in 2000 to ensure populations were protected from any possible risks “resulting from modern biotechnology”.
But persistent myths about “franken-foods” have played a part, too.
I once commissioned an essay on this by the American molecular biologist Nina Fedoroff, who was science and technology adviser to two US secretaries of state, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. “We humans have been genetically modifying plants to provide our food for more than 10,000 years,” she wrote. “Most of today’s food crops have radiation or chemical mutagenesis in their pedigrees. Curiously, nobody worried about or regulated the changes they couldn’t see.”
It was the specific science involving cloning and sequencing developed towards the end of the last century that provoked what many scientists consider to be unreasonable hysteria.
“Amazingly, only plants modified using molecular techniques are called GM today,” wrote Prof Fedoroff. “Almost everyone believes we’ve never fiddled with plant genes before – as if Ruby Red grapefruit, beefsteak tomatoes and elephant garlic were ‘natural’ and not our very own creations.”
In 2016, a list of 168 Nobel Laureates (mostly in chemistry, physics and medicine) issued an open letter, titled “To the Leaders of Greenpeace, the United Nations and Governments around the world”. In it, they said: “Scientific and regulatory agencies around the world have repeatedly and consistently found crops and foods improved through biotechnology to be as safe as, if not safer than those derived from any other method of production. There has never been a single confirmed case of a negative health outcome for humans or animals from their consumption. Their environmental impacts have been shown repeatedly to be less damaging to the environment, and a boon to global biodiversity.”
The laureates supported golden rice. They said it could reduce or eliminate much of the death and disease caused by Vitamin A deficiency, which the World Health Organisation estimates affects 250 million people. Yet organisations such as Greenpeace still insist that GM crops are not safe or that they are a corporate grab to impoverish farmers – even though golden rice’s owners have repeatedly said that they will make it available to subsistence farmers free of charge. “The seed will become their property and they will also be able to use part of their harvest to sow their next crop, free of cost.”
The ruling in the Philippines is not just a terrible, tragic, missed opportunity. It may also prove a deterrent to other countries, such as Bangladesh and India, where growing golden rice was being considered.
The British environmentalist Mark Lynas believes the court in the Philippines must have been “bamboozled” by a “barrage of misinformation”. Now he joins the 168 laureates in levelling the gravest of charges against anti-golden rice campaigners, and Greenpeace in particular.
“We call upon governments of the world to reject Greenpeace’s campaign against golden rice specifically, and crops and foods improved through biotechnology in general; and to do everything in their power to accelerate the access of farmers to all the tools of modern biology, especially seeds improved through biotechnology,” they wrote in their letter, concluding: “Opposition based on emotion and dogma contradicted by data must be stopped.”
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m
Winner: Arjan, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Jap Nazaa, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi.
6pm: Al Ruwais Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 1,200m
Winner: RB Lam Tara, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinal.
6.30pm: Shadwell Gold Cup Prestige Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Sanad, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
7pm: Shadwell Farm Stallions Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Patrick Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Canal, Harry Bentley, Satish Seemar.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The biog
Favourite film: The Notebook
Favourite book: What I know for sure by Oprah Winfrey
Favourite quote: “Social equality is the only basis of human happiness” Nelson Madela. Hometown: Emmen, The Netherlands
Favourite activities: Walking on the beach, eating at restaurants and spending time with friends
Job: Founder and Managing Director of Mawaheb from Beautiful Peopl
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
The biog:
From: Wimbledon, London, UK
Education: Medical doctor
Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures
Favourite animals: All of them
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):
Harry Kane, Tottenham, Premier League, 24 goals, 48 points
Edinson Cavani, PSG, Ligue 1, 24 goals, 48 points
Ciro Immobile, Lazio, Serie A, 23 goals, 46 points
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, 23 goals, 46 points
Lionel Messi, Barcelona, La Liga, 22 goals, 44 points
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
