Rice is one of the world's main staple crops, serving as a staple food for half of the world's population and providing about 80% of the necessary daily calorie intake. A large part of the world's rice production and consumption is in China and India, and the majority of rice is produced and consumed as a staple food in East and Southeast Asian countries. The crop is characterized by low imports and exports, and currently 89.8% of rice is consumed domestically. [FAO 2020/21]

Genetically altered rice, such as genetically modified or genome-edited rice, is not currently on the market. However, development is active, and genetically altered rice is often distributed illegally. Currently, genetically modified rice varieties that have been developed are herbicide and pest resistant, resistant to environmental stresses such as high temperature and cold damage, and rice varieties with enhanced nutrition.

In recent developments, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has approved two genome-edited rice varieties. One is Pusa DST Rice 1, which is tolerant to salty and alkaline soils, and the other is DRR Dhan 100 Kamala, which aims to be resilient to climate change, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce water use, and increase yields.

In response, the farmer-led Coalition for a GMO-Free India issued a statement calling for the suspension of the development of these two genome-edited rice varieties. The statement points out: (1) There is a possibility of foreign genes remaining or genetic modification, (2) off-target impact assessments have not been obtained due to lax regulations on genome-edited crops, and (3) these genome-edited rice plants have negative impacts on the environment and human health, and there is the possibility that seed sovereignty could be sold out to large corporations. Venugopal Badaravada, who has spoken as a farmers' representative at ICAR, which approved the rice, supported the statement and was subsequently removed from his position.

China is also actively developing genetically modified rice. In 2023, A Chinese researcher tested a long-stemmed genetically modified rice plant and reported on the harvest. The researcher says that growing taller plants increases production and imparts resistance to pests and floods.

In December 2024, the Chinese government also granted safety certificates to new genome-edited rice varieties as part of its GMO initiative to boost yields and improve food security. However, specific traits and cultivation plans are unknown. China's Nanjing Agricultural University is also reported to have formed a partnership with the US University of Missouri to develop genome-edited rice that is resistant to bacterial diseases. These efforts are only at the research or testing stage, and commercial cultivation is unlikely anytime soon.

In Italy, public opposition to GMOs is so strong that 15 out of 18 regions across the country are GMO-free, according to Via Campesina Europe. But as the European Union has accelerated its acceptance of new crops that apply some kind of gene modification technology, such as genome editing, there is now a move for even Italy to begin to grow genome-edited crops. In May 2024, Italy began field trials of a blast resistant genome-edited rice plant called Arborio rice RIS8imo. However, cultivation was stopped within months of planting, the crop cut, and the experiment suspended. Nevertheless, researchers collected seeds from the cut rice and are continuing the research.

The Philippines attempted to cultivate golden rice, but citizens have blocked commercial cultivation. Golden rice has been touted and developed as a genetically modified crop that will combat vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which has serious and sometimes fatal health effects among the world's poorest people. While there is broad consensus on preventing VAD, there are strong doubts about the efficacy and safety of golden rice. Golden rice was approved for cultivation in the Philippines between 2021 and 24, but the approval was eventually revoked by the courts due to environmental and food safety concerns.

The GM Contamination Register, a global database that tracks GMO contamination of non-GMO crops, foods and wild relatives, reports that genetic contamination of rice accounts for about one-third of all documented GMO contamination cases. Since 2006, unapproved genetically modified rice has been repeatedly detected in global supply chains. It is unclear whether the contamination was caused by test cultivation or illegal cultivation. This GMO contamination is having a serious impact on small farmers in developing countries who depend on rice production for their livelihoods. (Non-GMO Project 2025/6/13)

A new rice variety called MucoRice-CTB has recently been developed to prevent diarrhea. The variety was developed by Hiroshi Kiyono, a specially appointed professor at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, and Chiba University. This rice variety was developed to produce cholera toxin in rice grains by genetic modification. The gene introduced is a region called the B subunit of the cholera toxin-producing gene. The cholera toxin-producing gene consists of two subunits, A and B, but only the B unit was introduced.

Why was the vaccine produced in rice? Prof. Kiyono explained that rice plants have many advantages, such as easy mass production, long-term storage, no need for injections because they can be taken orally, low cost, and high productivity. Why was the variety named mucoRice? Muco is is thought to derive from mucus, a viscous secretion. This is probably because the rice, as a powder, is dissolved in PBS (phosphate-buffered saline) for oral administration.

In addition to cholera, toxins from E. coli are also believed to provide effective protection. E. coli O-157 is also effective, and Shigella toxin is also said to be protective. The effect is said to be exerted by affecting the intestinal flora. The plants will be grown in a closed hydroponic system such as those used in plant factories and other facilities. (The Lancet Microbe 2021/6/25)

The Consumer Affairs Agency released its FY2024 Consumer Opinion Survey Report on Food Labeling on June 20. A mere 7.3% of respondents said they knew about genome-edited foods. As the number of respondents who answered the same question in the previous year's survey was 6.1%, there has been only an almost negligible very slight increase. In addition, the number of respondents who asked for food labeling was 58.4%, also up slightly from 55.7% in the previous survey.

On June 30, 2025, a team led by Prof. Michinori Saito of Kyoto University announced that they have created oocytes from mouse ES cells. The research team had already published a similar result in a paper in 2017, but this time they said they were able to make the cells more similar to ova. In this research, the team added vitamin A and other ingredients to the culture process and also devised better timing. As a result, the production efficiency was significantly improved compared to the conventional method. In the future, it is expected that human embryonic stem cells and iPS cells will be used to produce ova and sperm. Production of these is currently permitted for humans, but fertilization is prohibited. However, depending on the results of research, there is now a possibility that this technology could be applied to humans. (Mainichi Shimbun 2025/6/30)