Whose returning soldiers would have encountered rice on their expeditions to Asia ?
Potrykus ’s goal is to distribute the rice to poor countries whose citizens suffer blindness and even death from a lack of vitamin A. Syngenta was involved in the early development of Golden Rice and held some intellectual property on Golden Rice , but has since handed it over to non-profit institutes including the International Rice Research Institute ( IRRI ) to develop on a non-profit basis .