Nutritional enhancement of rice for human health: the contribution of biotechnology
Event details
| Date | 05.03.2013 |
| Hour | 16:15 › 17:15 |
| Speaker | Dr Navreet Bhullar, Group of Plant Biotechnology, ETHZ, CH |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Micronutrient malnutrition is widespread, especially in poor populations across the globe where daily caloric intake is confined mainly to staple cereals. Rice, which is a staple food for over half of the world’s population, is low in bioavailable micronutrients required for the daily diet. Improvements of the plant-based diets is therefore critical and of high economic value in order to achieve a healthy nutrition of a large segment of the human population. Rice grain biofortification has emerged as a strategic priority for alleviation of micronutrient malnutrition. Nutritional enhancement of crops through conventional breeding is often limited by the low genetic variability for required dietary micronutrient levels. In this case biotechnology strategies offer effective and efficient perspectives. We use gene technology for tissue specific expression of genes responsible for uptake, transport, accumulation and availability of iron in the rice endosperm. In addition, we study the expression of endogenous genes specifically playing a role in re-mobilization of micro-nutrients from flag leaves to grains and focus on the interplay between iron homeostasis. An overview of our research and results will be presented.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- IIE
Contact
- Dr Jean-Paul Schwitzguebel, LBE