Leading biologists are calling on governments, at local and central levels, to look into the approval process of a US-backed study that saw children in Hunan Province used as guinea pigs to test the effects of eating genetically-modified (GM) rice. This is in response to growing public concern over the weekend about the legitimacy of the test and the safety of the children involved.

  Greenpeace, the environmental rights NGO, claimed Friday that a US-backed research project used Chinese children in an experiment to test a new type of genetically modified rice in Hengyang, Hunan Province, the Legal Daily reported.

   The study, backed by the US National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Agriculture, was led by Tang Guangwen from Tufts University. The study involved feeding genetically modified rice dubbed "Golden Rice" to a group of 24 children, between the ages of 6 and 8, in Hunan Province. They were required to eat 60 grams of "Golden Rice" for 21 days in a row, according to the August edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The published article claimed that Golden Rice, said to "be rich in carotene," proved to be effective at providing vitamin A for children.

Though the article didn't specify the tests were conducted in Hengyang, Web users who found out the city conducted similar tests demanded an answer.

Tang Guangwen, the author of the study, told Xinhua that the project had been approved by ethical review committees in both countries with all the parents of children involved in the project notified in advance.

Local officials from Hengyang have not corroborated this version of the facts, denying all connection to the study.

"We have put together an investigation team to look into the accusation, and there appears to have been no such research project," the press office of Hengyang responded on its official Weibo Saturday.

Instead, the Hengyang authorities said the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease and Control had commissioned the city to carry out a study to look at the conversion of carotene in vegetables into vitamin A in children with 68 elementary school students in Hengyang's Jiangkou Central Primary School enrolled in the study.

The study, initiated in 2008, had "no direct connection with any overseas agencies," according to local authorities.

Syngenda, an international company involved in Golden Rice project, declared on Saturday that they had never involved Chinese children as test objects and the program was a non-profit humanitarian aid, according to Sina.com.

Doubts as to legitimacy

The case has become a hot topic of public debate. People are highly concerned as to how Chinese children ended up acting as laboratory mice and whether the test was legitimate.

"It is immoral. Anyone who approved the test on human beings did so illegally. Would this happen if we tried to run this experiment on American children?" Na Zhongyuan, director of the Yunnan Institute for Ecological Agriculture, told the Global Times.

Chinese law dictates that all tests and imports of GM food and technology should be examined and approved by central agricultural authorities. 

Corruption is to blame, according to Na, who says that the "officials responsible for approving the experiment might have violated the law to permit such a test."

It remains unknown whether the test was approved, as calls to the ministry remained unanswered by press time.

Na called on the local government to find the children involved and give them thorough physical tests to ensure they have suffered no consequences.

GM food is controversial as debates continue to rage concerning its potential harm on the human body. In 2001, the State Council of China drafted a regulation on GM food, strictly monitoring its research, testing, production and marketing.

Currently, only transgenic papayas and soybeans are allowed to be imported into China, Fang Lifeng, a senior food and agriculture campaigner for Greenpeace, told the Global Times.

The use of human beings as test subjects for GM food has been forbidden worldwide.

"We are at a primitive stage of scientific research on GM technology. Its potential negative consequences on the human body remain unknown," Xue Dayuan, chief scientist for biodiversity at Minzu University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Experts have also called into question the legitimacy of the study. "It is vital to find out whether the Chinese government has authorized a US institution to carry out an experiment in China jointly with domestic academies," Xue said.

Gold is not safe

This attention has also brought Golden Rice under the microscope. It was originally designed by Swiss scientists to reduce vitamin A deficiencies (VAD) in developing countries.

According to the World Health Organization, it is intended to be given to people in poor parts of the world, especially in Africa, where severe cases of VAD have led to blindness.

Golden Rice used to be promoted broadly in Africa but was not widely accepted in China, where VAD has historically been less rampant, Xue said. 

"There might be commercial interests behind the test. The organizations responsible may want to promote the Golden Rice project worldwide, and need to do experiments across the world to prove its effect for treating VAD," Xue said.

Xue called on the government to impose harsh penalties on any proven law-breakers in this case and to set up new inspections and seek approvals for all transgenic experiments. Any projects that are approved should also be strictly monitored during their entire run. 

Even if this particular test was carried out legally and harmlessly, some experts have poured cold water on the role Golden Rice plays to fight VAD.

"We can use safer processes, such as improving the efficiency of photosynthesis, to increase vitamin A in almost all plants," stated Na.

Agencies contributed to this story