Korean Scientists Invent Pink Rice
On February15th, Korean researchers announced exciting news about a new kind of rice. Along with its unusual color, the food is packed with vital nutrients.The unique rice is the creation of researchers at Yonsei University. During their announcement, they released a photo that showed a bowl of rice. Due to the pink hue of the rice grains, it looks like a scoop of strawberry ice cream.According to the researchers, the new food was made by inserting stem cells from beef and cow fat into rice grains. After about 10 days, the meat and fat were found throughout the grains.As a result, the hybrid rice* has a novel flavor that is reminiscent of almonds, butter, or coconut oil. Its texture is sticky and firm, but easily mashed.Perhaps most importantly, the new rice contains a greater amount of protein and fat than normal rice. Usually, rice mostly has carbohydrates with small amounts of other nutrients.Because of this, the hybrid rice can become an affordable source of proteinto more people around the world. Also, it can reduce the amount of beef consumption, which causes serious environmental problems. The researchers said many more tests will be done before the pink rice becomes commercially available.
Questions:
1. What is special about the new kind of rice invented by Korean researchers?
2. How did the researchers change the color of the rice?
3. What flavors are associated with the hybrid rice?
4. Why do the researchers think the hybrid rice can be beneficial?
5. Why do you think it's important for scientists to develop new foods like pink rice?
Do you think people would be interested in trying pink rice? Why or why not?
