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Monsanto to provide royalty-free licenses for "golden rice" development |
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August 5, 2000
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Monsanto will provide royalty-free licenses of all its technology that could lead to further development of so-called "golden rice" and other rice varieties enriched with vitamin A. The St. Louis-based biotechnology company made the announcement Thursday at a symposium in Chennai, India. Along with the new licensing plan, Monsanto said Thursday it will release its rice genomic sequence database on a new Web site, www.rice-research.org. "We want to minimize the time and expenditure that might be associated with obtaining licenses needed to bring 'golden rice' to farmers and the people in dire need of this vitamin in developing countries," Monsanto Chief Executive Hendrik Vefaillie said. "Golden rice" was developed by scientists in Switzerland and Germany. Scientists working on improving the rice will now be able to use any of Monsanto's biotechnology tools free of charge. The company hopes the licensing plan will spur development of rice varieties with increased levels of vitamin A, more commonly known as beta carotene. The modified rice is expected to provide nutritional benefits to those suffering from vitamin A deficiency-related diseases, including irreversible blindness found each year in hundreds of thousands of children. Adequate consumption also can reduce the number of deaths associated with infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and childhood measles, by improving the immune system. Monsanto announced in April it had a draft sequence of a rice genome, the first crop genome to be described in such detail. Monsanto is a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Pharmacia. --- On the Net: http://www.rice-research.org http://www.monsanto.com
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