Researchers at the University of Illinois will share in a  three-year, $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop corn hybrids with higher levels of vitamin A and other micronutrients. Other partners in this initiative are the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Iowa State University, Monsanto Company, and Wageningen University.

Additional funds for this overall effort will come from HarvestPlus, a global research initiative to breed and disseminate crops for better nutrition, which is being spearheaded by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the International Center for Tropical Agricultural Research.

Torbert Rocheford, associate professor of plant genetics in the Department of Crop Sciences, notes that this new initiative fits well with ongoing research at the University of Illinois to develop corn hybrids with enhanced levels of vitamin A.

"We have a major program underway for screening germplasm for sources with higher levels of beta carotene and other compounds that are essential for producing vitamin A," Rocheford said  "As a result, we have already developed new genetic material that has some of the highest known levels of beta carotene in the world."

He notes that other research at the University of Illinois has focused on identifying chromosome regions that have genes responsible for higher levels of those compounds.

"The additional funding from this initiative will contribute to our research program and allow us to move more quickly toward the goal of developing new corn hybrids with enhanced levels of vitamin A," Rocheford said.

Rocheford points out that development of corn with improved levels of this essential vitamin could have a major impact on improving the health of large numbers of people in developing countries.

According to the United Nations, nearly one-third of the world's population suffers from deficiencies in micronutrients, such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A. Even mild levels of micronutrient malnutrition can damage cognitive and physical development, lower disease resistance in children, and reduce the likelihood that mothers survive childbirth.

"By using crops that have been bred to contain higher levels of essential vitamins and micronutrients, developing countries could reduce some of the time and expense associated with distributing supplemental vitamin and mineral pills," Rocheford said. "The technique of bio-fortifying staple crops such as corn will allow us to more easily spread the health benefits to populations around the world."

Iowa State University researchers working on corn hybrids

Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology
News Summary

Plant scientists are working to develop corn fortified with beta carotene to help fight blindness, birth defects and malnutrition in developing nations, reports AP.

The research, under way at Iowa State University in Ames, also involves identifying known hybrids high in beta carotene. The substance is converted by the human body into vitamin A, which is essential for vision, cell division and growth.

"Corn is a good way of delivering vitamin A because you to deliver it with fats and oils that help in its uptake," said Stephen Howell, director of the university's Plant Sciences Institute.

The project has two components: Geneticist Steve Rodermel will lead a team in developing the new corn varieties and nutrition expert Wendy White will examine how vitamin A enrichment works.

"The crucial question is how much the beta carotene needs to be increased in this corn kernel," White said in a statement. "To answer this question, we first have to understand how much of the beta carotene is absorbed by the body and converted into vitamin A to meet daily requirements."

The study will focus on the 48 developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa that use corn as their staple food, according to the AP.

"Nigeria will be one of the first test sites for at least part of the project," Howell said.

"In fact, a particular area has been defined and there will be a team that will go out and conduct some feeding studies," he said.

Initially, existing hybrids high in beta carotene will be planted, Howell said.

Iowa State will share in a $1.6 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Its partners on the project are the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico; the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria; the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Wageningen University, the Netherlands; and Monsanto Co. in St. Louis.

Any scientific findings will be shared freely, Howell said.

"I don't think we would be doing this if we weren't intending that the outcome of this would be of great benefit to the nutrition and diet of these countries," he said in the AP report.