一“米”之争——全球转基因食品 大论战

by Dan Charles

Order rice in a restaurant， and the server may ask if you want white or brown. Heres another choice which could become available to people in some parts of the world： yellow rice. Its promoters call it golden rice， and its been genetically modified to contain beta carotene. Thats the source of vitamin A. Millions of people in Asia and Africa dont get enough vitamin A， so this rice tests a controversial idea that genetically engineered crops can improve the lives of the poor.

Theres a raging， global debate over genetically modified crops， and golden rice is now caught up in it. But the story of this rice starts long before that debate ever got going. It started with a conversation in 1984.

Gary Toenniessen was in charge of the 2）Rockefeller Foundations biotech program at the time. There were no genetically engineered crops yet. Scientists were just figuring out how to find genes and move them around. But the Rockefeller Foundation thought maybe these techniques could be used to give farmers in poor countries a bigger harvest.

It set up a meeting at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines to talk about it. But a lot of people at this meeting were skeptical. They came to a breeder named Peter Jennings， a kind of legendary figure in these circles.

Toenniessen： And he said yellow 3）endosperm.

Jennings explained that yellow signals the presence of beta-carotene， the source of vitamin A. There are yellow kinds of corn or 4）sorghum， and hed been looking for varieties of rice with naturally yellow grain， too， because regular white rice does not provide this vital nutrient， and its a big problem.

Toenniessen： When children are weaned， theyre often weaned on a rice 5）gruel. And if they dont have any betacarotene or vitamin A during that period， they can be harmed for the rest of their lives.

So the Rockefeller Foundation started a program trying to create， with biotechnology， what Jennings could not find in nature. A global network of scientists at nonprofit research institutes started working on the problem. The first real breakthrough came in 1999. Scientists inserted two genes into rice that switched on production of beta-carotene. A few years later， other researchers created an even better version.

A single bowl of this new golden rice can supply 60 percent of a childs daily requirement of vitamin A.

Toenniessen： Its a great product. And its beautiful. It looks just like 6）saffron rice.

Others， though， do not find it beautiful at all. Consider what happened just a few months ago. Some U.S.-funded researchers published the results of a nutritional study showing that peoples bodies easily absorb the beta-carotene in golden rice. Theyd carried out that study among children in China. The result seemed like great news. But the environmental group Greenpeace immediately called it a scandal.

The Chinese government reacted quickly. It punished three Chinese coauthors of the study， removing them from their jobs. Chinese officials say the researchers didnt get all the approvals they needed. Also， the researchers only told the children and their parents that this was a special kind of rice high in beta-carotene， not that it was genetically modified.

This is where golden rice gets caught up in the bigger argument over genetically engineered crops—specifically， the argument over who benefits from them. Neth Dano， who works in the Philippines for the 7）ETC Group， an advocate on behalf of small farmers， says the main purpose of genetically modifying crops has been profit， not helping people. Neth Dano： A handful of corporations in developed countries have reaped billions of profits from selling genetically modified seeds and their 8）proprietary 9）herbicides.

So this is the real significance of golden rice， she says. It gives biotech companies a chance to say，“See？ Biotechnology is good for the poor.”

Golden rice is not all public relations， Dano says. It is supposed to help people， but she doesnt think it will be a very good way to help them. She thinks it will be more expensive and less effective than traditional nutrition programs. Its mainly going to help the image of biotechnology， she says.

This mixture of motives—technology promotion and 10）humanitarianism—also shows up in the biography of the man whos now leading the golden rice effort.

Gerard Barry spent more than 20 years in St. Louis working for 11）Monsanto， the company that pioneered genetically engineered crops. Ten years ago， Barry left the corporate world and moved to the nonprofit International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. His job is now to shepherd it down the 12）home stretch to the finish line. Part of the job is oldfashioned plant breeding， transferring the beta-carotene genes into rice varieties that farmers like to grow.

But before farmers can get their hands on golden rice， government 13）regulators in each country need to agree that its safe. Barrys network of researchers will apply for approval in the Philippines later this year. After that， theyll do the same in 14）Bangladesh. Barry： And our job is to make sure the people who need it more have access to it and understand the value， and ask for it， ultimately.

It will be the final test of that 30-year-old brainstorm， the idea that genetically altered rice really could be a cheap， self-multiplying source of a vital nutrient.

在餐馆里点米饭，服务员或许会问你是要白米还是糙米。而在世界上一些地方，人们可能又多一个选择——黄米。其倡导者称之为“黄金大米”，这种米经过基因改造，含有β-胡萝卜素，也就是维生素A的来源。在亚洲和非洲，数以百万计的人维生素A摄取不足，因此这种大米是对以下争议性话题的一次检验：转基因农作物可以改善穷人的生活。

对于转基因作物，全球一直存在着激烈的争论。如今黄金大米也卷入其中。但黄金大米的故事起源却远早于这场争论兴起之时。这个故事始于1984年的一次对话。

加里·托尼森当时是洛克斐勒基金会生物科技项目的负责人。那时转基因作物还没有出现。科学家们才刚刚找出方法，辨别基因并且对其进行转移。但洛克斐勒基金会认为或许这些技术可以用来为贫困国家的农民带来高产。

洛克斐勒基金会在位于菲律宾的国际大米研究所组织了一场会议来讨论这个议题。但大多数与会者都持怀疑态度。他们向一名叫彼得·詹宁斯的育种专家寻求意见，此人是相关技术领域的一个传奇人物。

托尼森：他提到黄色胚乳。

詹宁斯解释说，黄色意味着β-胡萝卜素的存在，它是维生素A的来源。现时有黄色品种的玉米或者高粱，他一直在寻找一种自然携带黄色谷穗的米类品种，因为一般的白米并不提供这种重要的营养成分，这是个大问题。

托尼森：当婴幼儿断奶后，他们通常会被喂食米粥。如果这个时期他们没有摄取β-胡萝卜素或者维生素A，这可能会对他们日后的成长造成损害。

于是，洛克斐勒基金会展开了一个项目，尝试用生物科技创造出詹宁斯在自然界中无法找到的大米。全球非盈利研究机构的科学家们开始致力于研究这个课题。第一个真正的突破出现在1999年。那时，科学家们将两个基因植入大米当中，促成β-胡萝卜素的产生。几年后，其他研究人员创造出了一个更好的版本。

一碗这种新型的黄金大米就能提供一个儿童日常所需维生素A的60%。

托尼森：这是一种了不起的产品。很美，看上去就像是金黄色的稻米。

然而其他人却一点儿也不这么认为。回想一下几个月前发生的事吧。当时一些获美国资助的研究人员公布了一项营养研究的结果，其显示人体能从黄金大米中轻易地吸收β-胡萝卜素。他们将这项研究放在中国儿童身上进行。这个研究结果看起来是件大新闻。但环保组织“绿色和平”立刻称之为丑闻。

中国政府也迅速作出反应。三位参与撰写该研究报告的科学家受到惩处，被辞退。中国官员表示，这些研究人员并没有获得所需的所有相关批准。不光如此，他们只是告知这些儿童及其家长，这是一种富含β-胡萝卜素的特种大米，但并没有说明是经过基因改造。

这就是黄金大米牵涉到这场更大的针对转基因作物的论战当中的原因——特别是，这场论战的焦点是谁

从中得益。内斯·达诺是菲律宾ETC小组（一个代表小农户的组织）的一名工作人员，她认为转基因作物的主要目的是盈利，而非帮助他人。

内斯·达诺：不少发达国家的企业已经从售卖转基因种子和其专属的除草剂中获得了几十亿的利润。

所以这就是黄金大米的真正意义所在，她说道。它给了生物科技公司一个机会这么说：“看到了吧？生物科技对穷人是有利的。”

黄金大米的问题并非全在于公关形象上，达诺说。它的本意应该是助人，但她认为其并非是一种助人的绝佳方式。她认为黄金大米比起传统的营养计划花费会更昂贵，更低效。她认为，黄金大米主要是用来提升生物科技的形象而已。

将技术促进和人性关怀这两种动机结合起来，也被写进了杰勒德·巴里的传记之中。他现在是推动黄金大米的领军人物。

杰勒德·巴里在圣路易斯的孟山都公司工作了二十多年。该公司是转基因作物的先驱。十年前，巴里离开私人机构，转投菲律宾的非盈利机构——国际大米研究所。他如今的工作是保驾护航，将黄金大米引入最后的冲刺阶段。他工作的其中一部分是传统的植物培育，将β-胡萝卜素基因转移到农民乐于种植的稻米品种当中。

但在农民可以拿到这些黄金大米之前，各国的政府管理机构需要认同其安全性。巴里的研究人员会在今年晚些时候向菲律宾提交批准申请。之后，他们会在孟加拉提交同样的申请。巴里：我们的工作是确保那些更有需要的人能够获得黄金大米，并且明白其价值，最终主动索取。

这将是这场历时三十年的头脑风暴的最后试验。其理念是，转基因大米确实会是某些重要营养成分的一种廉价而可持续的来源。