<P> In 2008, WHO malnutrition expert Francesco Branca cited the lack of real - world studies and uncertainty about how many people will use golden rice, concluding "giving out supplements, fortifying existing foods with vitamin A, and teaching people to grow carrots or certain leafy vegetables are, for now, more promising ways to fight the problem". In 2013, author Michael Pollan, who had critiqued the product in 2001, unimpressed by the benefits, expressed support for the continuation of the research . </P> <P> The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports the use of genetically modified organisms in agricultural development and supports the International Rice Research Institute in developing Golden Rice . In June 2016, 107 Nobel laureates signed a letter urging Greenpeace and its supporters to abandon their campaign against GMOs, and against Golden Rice in particular . </P> <P> On August 8, 2013 an experimental plot of golden rice being developed at IRRI in the Philippines was uprooted by protesters . British author Mark Lynas reported in Slate that the vandalism was carried out by a group of activists led by the extreme left - inclined Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) (unofficial translation: Farmers' Movement of the Philippines), to the dismay of other protesters . No local farmers participated in the uprooting; only the small number of activists damaged the golden rice crops because the farmers believe local customs which imply that killing a living rice plant is unlucky . </P> <P> Potrykus has enabled golden rice to be distributed free to subsistence farmers . Free licenses for developing countries were granted quickly due to the positive publicity that golden rice received, particularly in Time magazine in July 2000 . Monsanto Company was one of the companies to grant free licences . </P>

Genetically modified crops have been developed that produce a protein that makes the plants