<p>A genetically engineered banana to increase the levels of vitamin A in the body and improve the lives of millions of people in Africa has been developed by Australian researchers.<br /><br />The banana will soon have its first human trial to test its effect on vitamin A levels, the Queensland-based researchers said today.<br /><br />The researchers have been able to bend the banana genome which was being tested on humans for the first time, the AAP news agency reported.<br /><br />The aim was to stop thousands of children in Uganda and the surrounding countries from going blind and dying from vitamin A deficiency, the report said.<br /><br />The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers engineered bananas grown in far north Queensland to increase the levels of beta-carotene.<br /><br />About 10 kilogrammess of the yellow fruit - with orange flesh - grown near Innisfail have just been shipped to Iowa State University, where the trials are being conducted.<br /><br />Five Ugandan PhD students were working with James Dale on the nine-year project, on which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent USD 10 million.<br /><br />Dale said that by 2020 vitamin A-enriched banana varieties will be grown by farmers in Uganda, where about 70 per cent of the population survive on the fruit.</p>.<p>"The Highland or East African cooking banana, which is chopped and steamed, is a staple food of many East African nations, but it has low levels of micronutrients, particularly pro-vitamin A and iron," Dale said.<br /><br />"We're aiming to increase the level of pro-vitamin A to a minimum level of 20 microgrammes per gram dry weight," he said.<br /><br />Dale said previous US trials using Mongolian gerbils had already proved successful on the bananas.<br /><br />When field trials in Uganda are in place, he said the same technology could be transferred to countries such as Rwanda and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. </p>
<p>A genetically engineered banana to increase the levels of vitamin A in the body and improve the lives of millions of people in Africa has been developed by Australian researchers.<br /><br />The banana will soon have its first human trial to test its effect on vitamin A levels, the Queensland-based researchers said today.<br /><br />The researchers have been able to bend the banana genome which was being tested on humans for the first time, the AAP news agency reported.<br /><br />The aim was to stop thousands of children in Uganda and the surrounding countries from going blind and dying from vitamin A deficiency, the report said.<br /><br />The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers engineered bananas grown in far north Queensland to increase the levels of beta-carotene.<br /><br />About 10 kilogrammess of the yellow fruit - with orange flesh - grown near Innisfail have just been shipped to Iowa State University, where the trials are being conducted.<br /><br />Five Ugandan PhD students were working with James Dale on the nine-year project, on which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent USD 10 million.<br /><br />Dale said that by 2020 vitamin A-enriched banana varieties will be grown by farmers in Uganda, where about 70 per cent of the population survive on the fruit.</p>.<p>"The Highland or East African cooking banana, which is chopped and steamed, is a staple food of many East African nations, but it has low levels of micronutrients, particularly pro-vitamin A and iron," Dale said.<br /><br />"We're aiming to increase the level of pro-vitamin A to a minimum level of 20 microgrammes per gram dry weight," he said.<br /><br />Dale said previous US trials using Mongolian gerbils had already proved successful on the bananas.<br /><br />When field trials in Uganda are in place, he said the same technology could be transferred to countries such as Rwanda and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. </p>