Pradip Kumar Saini*, Shambhoo Prasad and Jitender Bhati
Micronutrient malnutrition is a major problem in poor nations, particularly in Asia and Africa, where millions of school-aged children and pregnant women suffer from it. Because they eat carbohydrate-rich but micronutrient-deficient plant-based diet, poor individuals are more vulnerable to malnutrition and hidden hunger. The spread of high-yielding but low-micronutrient cultivars exacerbated the malnutrition. Supplementation and food fortification of staple foods with minerals are two ways that can be used to address the issue of proper nutrition security. However, supplementation and fortification are neither possible nor cost-effective for iodine, particularly iron. To treat micronutrient deficiencies, genetic bio fortification of crops has recently developed as a self-targeted and non-recurrent strategy. Because there wasn't enough genetic variation in the crossable gene pools, most traditional breeding methods were limited. Furthermore, it lacks the micronutrient and iodine accumulation-related modulation of target gene expression. At this point, genetic engineering-based food bio fortification appears to be a potential strategy to solve hidden hunger, particularly in areas where breeding is difficult due to a lack of genetic diversity.
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