从美国到韩国，行业专家一直在研究解决方法，以解决 Seung-Tshool Hong 博士所说的全球最严重的医学、社会和经济问题之一：代谢综合征和相关疾病。
Hong, a South Korean professor at Chonbuk National Unversity Medical School and his team of researchers have created a strain of rice, DJ526, enriched with resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine and dark chocolate that is hailed for its ability to combat the effects of obesity, diabetes, cancers and other ailments. The supplement, which according to the journal Science accounts for a $30 million business in the U.S., is said to rev up the body’s cellular defenses against life-threatening diseases.
这种含有从一种花生克隆而来的生物合成基因的大米已获得韩国农村发展管理局的投资，用于一项旨在克服与目标疾病相关的健康问题的国家项目。
据韩国科学家称，DJ526 在治疗代谢综合征和相关疾病方面与典型药物一样有效。由于在许多发展中国家很难获得医疗服务，Hong 解释说，DJ526 可以提供一个很好的替代品，因为它可以在传统水稻可以种植的任何地方种植。
加州大学洛杉矶分校 (UCLA) 也在研究转基因作物，以改善消费者的健康状况。在最近的一份声明中，加州大学洛杉矶分校表示，它已经开发出一种西红柿，这种西红柿会产生一种肽，这种肽在食用时会模仿好胆固醇的作用。
“This is one of the first examples of a peptide that acts like the main protein in good cholesterol and can be delivered by simply eating the plant,” said senior author Dr. Alan M. Fogelman, executive chair of the department of medicine and director of the atherosclerosis research unit at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “There was no need to isolate or purify the peptide — it was fully active after the plant was eaten.”
该团队之所以选择番茄，是因为它无需烹饪即可食用，他们表示，这些肽能够预防饮食引起的动脉粥样硬化，这是一种可导致心脏病发作和中风的基于斑块的动脉疾病。