The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $10.3-million grant to the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines to fund the development of Golden Rice, a genetically modified strain of rice containing beta carotene which the body converts to vitamin A. [...] The grant will develop and evaluate Golden Rice varieties for the Philippines and Bangladesh with the aim of applying for regulatory approval of these varieties as early as 2013 in the Philippines and 2015 in Bangladesh.