cadmium Tag

Researchers discover that the duplication of a transporter gene lowers toxic cadmium accumulation in rice without affecting quality and yield Rice is a staple food for nearly half the world's population. However, it accumulates more cadmium from the soil than other cereals like barley and wheat. Reports estimate that 40-65% of our total intake of cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, is from rice. Eating cadmium-contaminated rice poses a serious health risk to humans, with conditions like Itai-itai disease being associated with high cadmium intake. Efforts have been previously made to reduce the quantity of cadmium in rice through methods like importing clean soil, water management, and mixing contaminated soil with biochar and lime. However, these methods are time-consuming and expensive. To remedy this, scientists...