Tag: biotechnology and its applications

This question is similar to 487034. Golden Rice is the famous transgenic rice variety associated with Vitamin A, though the term 'basmati' is often used loosely in textbooks to refer to improved rice varieties.

Transgenic plants are organisms that have had their genome altered by the introduction of foreign DNA (genes) from another organism.

Golden Rice was specifically developed to address Vitamin A deficiency in populations where rice is the staple food.

Golden Rice is a well-known product of genetic engineering, created to express genes for beta-carotene synthesis.

Vitamin A deficiency is a leading cause of childhood blindness; Golden Rice provides a dietary source of beta-carotene to help prevent this.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is the regulatory body in India responsible for the approval of activities involving the large-scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production.

Tobacco was the first plant to be genetically engineered and released for commercial use in 1994. Bt cotton is a famous transgenic crop, but it was released later.

The Flavr Savr tomato was engineered to delay the softening process by inhibiting the production of polygalacturonase, an enzyme that breaks down cell walls. This significantly increases the shelf life of the fruit.

Golden rice is genetically modified to produce beta-carotene, which is a precursor to Vitamin A. This gives the rice its characteristic golden or yellow color.

RNA interference (RNAi) is used to protect tobacco plants from nematodes. By introducing DNA that produces both sense and antisense RNA, the plant creates double-stranded RNA, which silences essential nematode genes.