美國農業部動植物衛生檢驗局（AHPHIS）21日正式批准，同意文特里亞生物科學公司在堪薩斯州種植基改稻米，做為藥物生產之用，消息公佈後，美國農業聯盟已對此表達強烈的疑慮。
代表全美25萬戶農場和飼養場的美國農業聯盟表示，此項決議將對美國食物供應鏈造成潛在危機。
文特里亞生物科學公司是一家位於加州沙加緬度的生技公司，該公司目前正在研發一種用基改稻米成分製成的口服藥品──口服葡萄糖電解質液（ORS），用來治療腹瀉，將兒童腹瀉的持續時間減少30%。根據世界衛生組織資料，腹瀉是全球兒童第二大死因。
不過，基於可能產生毒性副作用的考量，美國食品藥物管理局尚未批准此種稻米製成的藥品。美國農業聯盟主席布宜斯（Tom Buis）表示，尚未獲得批准就意味著文特里亞生技公司無法擁有大量的市場，如此一來，在堪薩斯州種植基改稻米，對於當地農民或經濟情況並無任何益處。
The National Farmers Union expressed "great concern" over today's approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, APHIS, to allow Ventria Bioscience to plant rice that is genetically modified to produce pharmaceuticals in Kansas.
The decision "poses a potential risk to the American food supply," said the National Farmers Union, NFU, which represents 250,000 farm and ranch families in all U.S. states.
Ventria Bioscience, a biotech company based in Sacramento, California, is developing a product made from genetically engineered rice that helped reduce the duration of diarrhea in children by 30 percent, as part of an oral rehydration solution. Childhood diarrhea is the second leading killer of children, according to the World Health Organization.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved the rice-grown drugs due to potentially hazardous side effects. "This lack of approval means Ventria Bioscience does not have a sufficient market," said Buis, "thus the production of this crop appears to provide no benefit to Kansas farmers or the economy."
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