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Agenetically modified potato is apotato that has had itsgenes modified. Goals of modification include introducingpest resistance, tweaking the amounts of certain chemicals produced by the plant, and to prevent browning or bruising of the tubers. Varieties modified to produce large amounts of starches may be approved for industrial use only, however, not for food.
The genetically modifiedInnate potato was approved by theUnited States Department of Agriculture in 2014[1] and the USFDA in 2015.[2][3][4] The cultivar was developed byJ. R. Simplot Company. It is designed to resistblackspot bruising,browning and to contain less of theamino acidasparagine that turns intoacrylamide during the frying of potatoes. Acrylamide is a probable humancarcinogen, so reduced levels of it in fried potato foods is desirable.[5][6] Though, browning does not affect the quality of the potato, it is simply that consumers tend to not want to purchase "damaged" or possibly spoiled[7] goods. The 'Innate' name comes from the fact that this variety does not contain any genetic material from other species (the genes used are "innate" to potatoes) and usesRNA interference to switch off genes. Simplot hopes that not including genes from other species will assuage consumer fears aboutbiotechnology.[5]
The "Innate" potato is not a single cultivar; rather, it is a group of potato varieties that have had the same genetic alterations applied using the same process. Five different potato varieties have been transformed, creating "innate" versions of the varieties, with all of the original traits, plus the engineered ones. Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank, and Atlantic potatoes have all been transformed by Simplot, as well as two proprietary varieties. Modifications of each variety involved two transformations, one for each of the two new traits. Thus there was a total of ten transformation events in developing the different Innate varieties.[8]
McDonald's is a major consumer of potatoes in the US. TheFood and Water Watch has petitioned the company to reject the newly marketed Innate potatoes.[9] McDonald's has announced that they have ruled out using Innate.[10]
In 1995,Monsanto introduced theNewLeaf variety of potato which was their firstgenetically modified crop. It was designed to resist attack from theColorado potato beetle due to the insertion ofBt toxin producing genes from the bacteriumBacillus thuringiensis. The insect-resistant potatoes found only a small market, and Monsanto discontinued the sale of seed in 2001.[11]
'Amflora' (also known asEH92-527-1) was acultivar developed byBASF Plant Science for production of pureamylopectin starch for processing intowaxy potato starch.[12] It was approved for industrial applications in the European Union market on 2 March 2010 by theEuropean Commission,[13] but was withdrawn from the EU market in January 2012 due to a lack of acceptance from farmers and consumers.[14]
A modifiedDésirée potato was developed in the 1990s by biochemist[15]John Gatehouse atCambridge Agricultural Genetics (later renamed Axis Genetics) and had gone through two years of field trials atRothamsted Experimental Station.[16] The potatoes were modified to express theGalanthus nivalisagglutinin (GNA) gene from theGalanthus (snowdrop) plant, which caused them to produce GNAlectin protein that is toxic to some insects.[17][18] This variety of potatoes is the one which was involved in thePusztai affair.
Other similar research - into transgenic Désirées, with antifeedant chemicals transferred from other plants, a few years before, with a researcher from Axis - was also done by a team including Gatehouse and his wifeAngharad. At this time the Gatehouses were both at theUniversity of Durham.[19]
In 2014, a team of British scientists published a paper about three-yearfield trial showing that another genetically modified version of the Désirée cultivar can resist infection after exposure tolate blight, one of the most serious diseases of potatoes. They developed this potato for blight resistance by inserting a gene (Rpi-vnt1.1), into the DNA of Désirée potatoes. This gene, which conferred the resistance to blight, was isolated from a wild relative of potatoes,Solanum venturii, which is a native of South America.[20][21]
In 2017 scientists in Bangladesh developed their own variety of blight resistant GM potato.[22]