Giant embryo rice enters the breeding method stage, blood pressure-lowering rice expected to reach the market

  Red rice with anti-atherosclerosis properties and giant embryo rice with blood pressure-lowering functions have entered the laboratory breeding stage and are expected to reach people's dining tables in the near future. This is the news the reporter obtained yesterday at the opening ceremony of the "2007 Shanghai Science and Technology to the Countryside" series of service activities. It is reported that "high-protein rice breeding," undertaken by the Plant Molecular Genetics Laboratory of Shanghai Normal University, has been listed as a key project of the Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

  According to project leader Professor Li Jianyue of Shanghai Normal University, cultivating high-protein rice is of great significance in many respects. Ordinary rice has relatively low protein and amino acid content, so increasing the protein content and quality of rice can raise the nutritional level of people's "meals."

  What is even more valuable is that Professor Li has also added various "functions" to these rice varieties. The special function of giant embryo rice is lowering blood pressure. In addition to being highly nutritious, its germ also contains gamma-aminobutyric acid, which lowers blood pressure. "The breeding technology for this rice is already relatively mature, and it is currently in the stage of expanded propagation," Li Jianyue said.

  Red rice is a naturally colored rice with functions of resisting atherosclerosis and improving the body's antioxidant capacity. It is rich in bioactive substances such as carotene, flavonoids and alkaloids, as well as mineral elements such as iron, zinc and calcium. Professor Li crossed high-protein but low-yield red rice with ordinary rice to breed "high-yield red rice." It is expected that in the near future, this rice technology will become mature.

  At present, Professor Li is also cultivating "soybean rice" that may lower blood lipids and blood plasma cholesterol. According to the introduction, this is a genetically modified food. In its research and development, safety issues were fully taken into consideration, and resistance genes and reporter genes were excluded. It is expected to pass the Ministry of Agriculture's safety assessment in a few years. The health function of this rice comes from the soybean glycinin gene. This protein can prevent and treat "diseases of affluence," and rice into which this gene has been transferred has an introduced "health weapon."