Even though 5.2 million children suffer with vision impairment and a potential death sentence, Golden Rice, a contributory answer to the global [vitamin A deficiency, or] VAD malady, is not allowed to be sold in commercial seed sales—yet.

Even after two decades of claims and counterclaims, Golden Rice stirs a significant amount of confusion in the public eye, says Donald MacKenzie, executive director of the Institute for International Crop Improvement (ICCI) at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

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Greenpeace opposition, MacKenzie says, is largely based in ideology. “Some people, for whatever reason, are opposed to the genetic engineering of crops. Therefore, they are opposed to Golden Rice. Of course, some in the opposition have posited that Golden Rice is the thin edge of a wedge, or a Trojan horse of more GM crops. I don’t subscribe to that belief and if Golden Rice can help save dying children and make their lives better off, then it is a worthwhile pursuit.”

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“Whether all the arguments are right or wrong, Golden Rice has been the poster child for biotechnology for several decades,” MacKenzie concludes. “When you are the poster child, you are a lightning rod for the opposition.”

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