Two short items - first item below exemplifies how what now appears to be a cruel hoax is being perpetuated.

The clear impression given by the Syngenta statement is that this technology takes care of the problem of 200,000 people going blind each year, whereas the evidence at this points appears to be that golden rice doesn't even begin to seriously address the problem and yet there are clearly more effective alternatives available now - see item 2
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Comments on Vit A. from 'Syngenta: A Different Take on the Life Science Concept'
12-14-2000
Willie Vogt, E-Content Director, Farm Progress

"The future of life science companies is not dead," says Ed Shonsey, president and CEO, Syngenta Seeds. "We see seeds as the delivery vehicle." He explains that what might have been part of a pharmaceutical package will someday, instead, come from seeds derived through modern technology.

Pointing to Golden Rice, the vitamin A-enhanced rice currently under development for developing nations, Shonsey notes: "More than 200,000 people go blind each year because of vitamin A deficiency. This technology would alleviate those problems, and we're donating that technology to the Third World."  
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from wytze de lange (the real one):

Yesterday I posted some remarks from Dr. Morton on the "massive  improvement" by vit A rice. (1.3% of RDI).  Others also call this 1.3% an "extremely important contribution" Now, recognizing that certainly this is a remarkable achievement for which the developers should be given some Nobel prizes, especially since this rice will be provided for FREE out of the goodness of their pace-makers,  we  are still left to find the other 98.7% of vit. A. It is known that there are many plants in India that contain high levels of vit A.  One such example can be found at the following website: http://www.treesforlife.org/newsl/fal97/fal97.htm