MELBOURNE, June 16 – Genetically modified bananas grown in far north Queensland and bound for Africa are about to undergo human trials in the United States.
Researchers at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have engineered the fruit to increase the amount of beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the body, ABC News reports.
The aim is to prevent thousands of children in East Africa from dying or going blind as a result of vitamin A deficiency.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent A$12 million (US$11.28 million) on the project, which is being led by Professor James Dale from QUT’s Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities.
Ugandan researcher Stephen Buah has been working on the project in Brisbane for almost three years.
He says 30 percent of children aged under five are clinically deficient in vitamin A and 70 percent of the Ugandan population survives on bananas.
-BERNAMA
