Corn genetically modified to boost vitamin content

European scientists have genetically modified corn to fortify it with three vitamins - the first time a plant has been engineered to make more than one vitamin, according to this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This achievement, which vastly exceeds any realized thus far by conventional breeding alone, opens the way for the development of nutritionally complete cereals to benefit the world's poorest people, the report says.

Vitamin deficiency affects up to 50 percent of the world's population, mostly in developing countries where populations endure monotonous, cereal-rich diets, it notes.