A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION FOR DIETARY IRON-DEFICIENCY THROUGH PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BREEDING TO INCREASE SEED FERRITIN CONTROL

Objectives: To stimulate novel sustainable solutions to the problem of the nutritional iron deficiency, we asked: How does Nature insure pro per iron nutrition of embryos and neonatal animals? Estimates of iron deficiency world-wide are 30% of the population, with women and childr en at the greatest risk. Recent studies linking iron deficiency with i mpeded cognitive development emphasizes the enormity of the impact of iron deficiency. Sustainable solutions to the problem of dietary iron deficiency have been elusive. Results: Data for storage iron was exami ned in seeds, developing plants, embryos and developing animals. In al l cases, the common source of stored iron for development was ferritin . The protein component of ferritin concentrates iron billions of time s above the solubility of the free metal ion. High conservation of fer ritin sequences in bacteria, plants and animals and the specificity of ferritin bioavailability either added extrinsically or intrinsically enriched in a selected soybean cultivar, showed high efficacy in curin g dietary iron deficiency in the rat model. Older data on ferritin wer e reevaluated in light of contemporary knowledge. Conclusions: Enhance ment of natural seed ferritin content by biotechnology and breeding ha s the potential for a sustainable solution to the problem of global di etary iron deficiency.