01 Aug Scientists Create Vitamin A-Rich Banana That Saves Lives
Did you know that hundreds of thousands of children die due to a lack of vitamin A every year? Scientists from Queensland University of Technology (Australia) have managed to create a banana rich in provitamin A, which will save lives of children around the world.
Vitamin A contributes to vital functions in child growth and development, in the immune system, and is important for good vision. Lack of vitamin A can lead to many disorders, even to the death of children. The new banana has an edible golden-orange part and it has been created by taking genes out of a special kind of banana originating in Papua New Guinea and very rich in provitamin A. The genes were combined by the scientists with the most common sort of Cavendish bananas. Provitamins are substances containing very little or no vitamins, but able to be converted to vitamin carriers.
The new, revolutionary banana has been developed for the past ten years at the Queensland University of Technology, and the research was funded by Bill Gates’ foundation. Achieving these scientific results along with their publication, is a major milestone in a quest to deliver a more nutritional diet to some of the poorest subsistence communities in Africa.
Source: http://www.ekapija.com/after-workhours/view/1814838?slug=stvorena-nova-vrsta-banana