A genetically modified rice variety could save the lives of thousands of children. But now Greenpeace has prevented the sowing because of alleged health risks. Typical: The eco-activists care neither about science nor about the common good. Your agenda is completely different.

“This rice could save the lives of millions of children every year,” said the American news magazine “Time” jubilantly 23 years ago about the successful production of golden rice. Using genetic engineering, biochemists had succeeded in developing the rice variety with increased amounts of a vitamin A precursor. Hundreds of thousands of children go blind every year from vitamin A deficiency, about half of them die. Golden rice could prevent misery.

But the project is faltering because Greenpeace and other so-called environmental organizations are torpedoing the Golden Rice with lawsuits in court over alleged risks of the genetically modified seeds – despite criticism from experts. A study in the journal “Environment and Development Economics” nine years ago came to the conclusion that delaying the use of golden rice could have cost one and a half million years of life unnecessarily even then.

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in German and has been translated and edited for clarity.]

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