May 14, 2003 — Japanese laboratories have developed rice plants that could free serious diabetes patients from regular insulin injections by promoting their own bodies' production of the key hormone, researchers said Wednesday.
The genetically-modified rice was developed jointly by the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), private-sector Japan Paper Industries and Sanwa Kagaku Research Institute.
|
  |
Fumio Takaiwa, head of the NIAS research team said it was the first time that a foodstuff had been developed as an effective treatment for diabetes.
Diabetes is a disorder characterized by a chronic, toxic excess of sugar in the blood caused by a lack of insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas.
It afflicts more than 150 million people worldwide, including 17 million in the United States, and can cause blindness, kidney failure and even death. There are two distinct types.
Type 1 diabetes develops most often in children and young adults, but the disorder can appear at any age.
Type 2, or "adult" diabetes, traditionally affects people over 55 and apparently develops as a consequence of obesity or weight gain, and is now being detected among children. It accounts for 90 percent of US diabetes cases.
The newly-developed rice strain contains a high level of another hormone, the GLP-1, which promotes the pancreas' release of insulin.
The development is "epoch-making ... as it enables us to eat the staple food of Japanese, increase insulin secretion, and lower glucose levels in blood," in Type 2 diabetics, the three research partners said in a statement.
A standard Japanese helping of rice at every meal is believed to be enough to control diabetics' glucose levels.
There are 6.9 million diabetics in Japan.
The project aims at commercialising the rice in two-to-three years but Research director Takahito Jomori at Sanwa Kagaku admitted it could take some more time for it to be available to consumers.
Since there are restrictions on where genetically-modified plants may be grown in Japan, the rice may have to be grown overseas such as in the United States, he said.
< news main
