“Breast milk” rice edges toward reality

If you live in the midwestern U.S. state of Kansas, some “breast milk” rice could be blowing your way soon. Ventria Bioscience has received preliminary government approval to grow rice plants containing genes involved in producing human breast milk. The plants could one day be used for the noble purpose of developing drugs that would treat diarrhea and ...

603513_070306_rice_05.jpg
603513_070306_rice_05.jpg

If you live in the midwestern U.S. state of Kansas, some "breast milk" rice could be blowing your way soon.

If you live in the midwestern U.S. state of Kansas, some “breast milk” rice could be blowing your way soon.

Ventria Bioscience has received preliminary government approval to grow rice plants containing genes involved in producing human breast milk. The plants could one day be used for the noble purpose of developing drugs that would treat diarrhea and dehydration in babies. If final approval is given in April, Ventria would begin planting the rice over 3,000 acres of Kansas farmland sometime in April or May.

The plan, of course, has its critics. Some worry that high winds or human error could cause the experimental plants to enter the human food supply. In 2002, genetically modified corn from the United States somehow got into Mexican fields and began spreading naturally by cross-pollination.

Let’s hope that no Kansans start erupting in spontaneous lactation.

Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009 to 2016 and was an FP assistant editor from 2007 to 2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

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