Genetically Modified Carrot Helps Body Absorb More Calcium

College Station, TX (AHN) - Researchers from two Texas universities have developed a genetically modified carrot that helps the body absorb more calcium to strengthen bones and teeth.

Collaborating scientists from the AgriLife's Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center of the Texas A&M University in College Station and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston altered a carrot's gene to improve its transport of calcium across plant cell membranes. They then tested the carrot called sCAX1 on the diet of an experimental group to establish their findings published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thirty study subjects were fed with regular carrot in the first week and with the sCAX1 in the second week. Their daily calcium absorption rates were then measured using samples of their urine. The subjects absorbed 41 percent more calcium after eating sCAX1 than after they eat a regular carrot.

BCM's Dr. Jay Morris led the research primarily aimed at increasing the calcium in fruits and vegetables for health and nutrition. According to the Daily Mail, he said that a diet containing many vegetables and fruits engineered the same way as the sCAX1 could become closer to meeting the daily calcium requirement of a person.

The Daily Mail quoted Professor Kendal Hirschi, another member of the BCM team, as saying that more research are needed before the sCAX1 is made available to consumers.