Questions

The United Nations has marked the first World Tuna Day (WTD) on May 2, 2017 to conserve one of the globe’s most popular fish to be caught and eaten and to highlight the vital socio-economic importance of tuna to people around the world. Tuna plays a critical role in sustainable development, food security, economic opportunity, and livelihoods of people around the world. At present more than 80 States have tuna fisheries, thousands of tuna fishing vessels operate in all the oceans and tuna fishery capacity is still growing in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Day was designated in December 2016 resolution of the UN General Assembly.

Golden Rice (Oryza sativa) denotes a genetically modified rice capable of biosynthesizing and accumulating β-carotene (provitamin A) in the endosperm, yielding a characteristic yellow color in the polished grains. Golden rice was developed to help cope with vitamin A deficiency, a problem that prevails in developing countries, affecting millions (Underwood, 2000; UNICEF, 2000). Vitamin A deficiency causes mortality and growth retardation in children and frequently impairs vision, leading to blindness. It also contributes indirectly to anemia by interfering with iron bioavailability.

The endosperm of Golden Rice (Oryza sativa) is yellow due to the accumulation of β-carotene (provitamin A) and xanthophylls. The product of the two carotenoid biosynthesis transgenes used in Golden Rice results in Pale Yellow color.