Name the transgenic crop in which three genes for synthesis of vitamin A are introduced through the technique of genetic engineering.

The correct answer is Golden rice.

Key Points

• Golden rice is a variety of rice (Oryza sativa) produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, in the edible parts of rice
• Golden rice is different from its parental strain due to the addition of three beta-carotene biosynthesis genes to the Golden rice.
• These included two genes from the daffodil plant and a third from a bacterium.
• Researchers used a plant microbe to ferry in the genes into the plant cells.

Important Points

• Research for golden rice was started off as a Rockefeller Foundation initiative in 1982.
• Golden Rice was engineered from normal rice by Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer in the 1990s to help improve human health. 
• Vitamin A deficiency cause night blindness. (Golden rice is rich in Vitamin A)