British scientists have developed genetically modified potatoes that are resistant to the vegetable's biggest threat - blight.

A three-year trial has shown that these potatoes can thrive despite being exposed to late onset blight.

That disease has plagued farmers for generations and it triggered the Irish potato famine in the 1840s.

EU approval is needed before commercial cultivation of this GM crop can take place.

The research is published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.Potatoes are particularly vulnerable to late blight, a fungus-like organism that loves the damp and humid conditions that often occur during the growing season in Europe. cn domain 

The speed with which this infection takes hold and the devastating impacts on the crop make it the number one threat to six million tonnes of potatoes produced in the UK each year.

Farmers have to be continuously on their guard and need to spray up to 15 times a season to protect against the disease.  cn domain 

As part of an EU-wide investigation into the potential for biotechnology to protect crops, scientists at the John Innes Centre and the Sainsbury Laboratory began a trial with blight-resistant potatoes in 2010.  cn domain 

The researchers added a gene to Desiree potatoes, from a wild South American relative, that helps the plant turn on its natural defences to fight off blight.

The scientists involved say that the use of techniques to add extra genes was crucial in developing a plant resistant to the blight.  cn domain 

"Breeding from wild relatives is laborious and slow, and by the time a gene is successfully introduced into a cultivated variety the late blight pathogen may already have evolved the ability to overcome it," said Prof Jonathan Jones, of the Sainsbury Laboratory, the lead author of the research paper. cn domain 

"And I think it is better to control disease with genetics than with chemistry."  cn domain  

In 2012, the third year of the trial, all the non-GM potatoes became infected with late blight by August while the modified vegetables remained fully resistant to the end of the experiment.

Hot  Sales

 .cn.com .pw $1.99/yr

 .com .cn.com  .net $9.99/yr

 .cn $17.96/yr

cn domain and hk domain

http://www.eranet.com/

Skype: Partner Eranet

Email:support@eranet.com

MSN:cs@eranet.com

Tel:852-39995400

WhatsApp: (852) 96008286