GM potato cleared for EU farming

[thefuture]

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8545503.stm

"The European Commission has cleared the way for a genetically modified potato to be grown in the EU - only the second GM product it has allowed.

The starch of the Amflora potato can be utilised for industrial uses like making paper, and for animal feed - but not for human consumption.

Environmental groups have strongly opposed the introduction of GM crops.

But the Commission insisted its decision was based on "a considerable volume of sound science". "


That last sentence sounds like the fateful words spoken in the first Jurassic Park movie while the animals were still contained....

[Tom Wagner]

"Amflora starch can be used in many different ways. It makes yarn stronger and paper glossier; it also makes spray concrete adhere better to the wall and keeps glue liquid for longer."
It said the Amflora potato "carries a controversial antibiotic resistant gene which it cannot be guaranteed will not enter the food chain".
The Commission said it was imposing strict conditions on the cultivation of Amflora to address some of the environmental concerns.
For instance, the potato "will be cultivated and harvested before it produces seeds".

I will try not to eat any of those potatoes, otherwise I will be spinning yarns more than I am now. At least my hair will be glossier. I just have to stay away from concrete walls as I may just end up adhered forever in some dark alley. But with that antibiotic gene I wont infect anyone!
Maybe if someone crosses this Amflora with a cotton plant they could improvise a potato bandade...one that has cotton fibers that stick to your bruised knee and fights infection as well. Be good for stomach ulcers, but would set heavy on the stomach...too much cotton. The worry is that if it keeps glue liquid longer, I may become unglued. Laugh.

I take it that the variety produce potato berries...otherwise why harvest before they are ready for viable seed? Why worry about harvesting before it produces seed...here in my neck of the woods they spray the potato vines when they are blooming with a dilute solution of 2-4-D and the berries will never contain a seed at all.

Tom Wagner

[Tom Wagner]

Potatoes normally have two kinds of starches...(see quote) and making this GM potato 100% amylopectic would make it a very sticky mashed potato. The obvious question of many GM plants is the threat of outcrossing with other potatoes.

Amylopectin, making up 80 percent of the starch content in potatoes, consists of large, highly-branched molecules. Amylopectin makes starch water soluble and gives it its characteristic stickiness. It is very useful in the food, paper, and chemical industries as paste, glue or as a lubricant.
*

Amylose is made up of long, chain-like molecules and is used predominantly in the production of films and foils.

The Amflora potato’s starch is distinguished by its very consistent surface structure, high viscosity, stability and transparency. This innovative starch can be used in the paper, glue, textiles, building and cosmetics industries.

Scientists developed the Amflora potato using the ‘antisense strategy’. This was done by switching off or deactivating the gene responsible for the production of amylose. To this end, the scientists copy the corresponding gene, then invert it and reincorporate it into the genetic makeup – that’s why it is called antisense. This copied section then attaches itself to the original gene and blocks it. Amylose is no longer formed and that results in a potato that only produces the necessary amylopectin.

So what would the hybrid be in terms of starch. I wonder if the authorities of approving the variety thought of that? What would the dominance-recessive traits be? Would the recombinants have Amylose starch tied up with the antisense strategy making 100% amylose and those potato varieties be perfect for making films and foils? Imagine: Baked potatoes already in their own foil wrap!

Tom Wagner

[Tom Wagner]

I was looking into the Amflora variety and it is a transgenic variety out of Prevalent, a variety from 1966....rather obscure but has been used as a parent--even grandparent of more modern varieties. I wonder why they selected Prevalent?

From time to time, I look up trivia about potatoes and found this from months ago.....

Potato safety rediscovered
Posted: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:35 pm
Once again, European officials have discovered that BASF's Amflora potato is safe. The rediscovery was made by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), a scientific body typically ignored by European politicians and regulators. "Today's assessment gives the entire EU Commission the final scientific clarity to approve Amflora", said Stefan Marcinowski, executive board member in charge of BASF Plant Science. Dr. Marcinowski has been working for BASF since 1979 and has impeccable scientific credentials, but accusing the EC of having "scientific clarity" suggests he doesn't get out of the lab very often.

In July last year, BASF took legal action against the European Commission, saying it unjustifiably delayed the approval process for Amflora, which BASF started 12 years ago. And in September last year, BASF said it was considering shutting down its European plant science research arm because of the EC's perpetual dithering.

Seems to be a bit of politicking going on.

[PatrickW]

While I didn't know the details until seeing the BBC article above, I was aware they were testing this potato in Friesland in the north of the Netherlands the last few years. There was quite a lot of opposition to the testing, and apparently they weren't very good at cleaning up after the trials, leaving behind many tubers that started growing the following year. Since it's common to regrow potatoes on the same ground year after year in the area, this is another source of possible contamination of the food chain.

Next to cut flowers, more pesticides are used on potatoes than any other crops here, and most potatoes are grown in the area around Friesland, an environmentally sensitive area. These chemicals put a real strain on the environment. Since these potatoes will also need blight fungicides, this will only mean a lot more environmental damage just for the sake of sticky glue and animal feed.

In theory they are phasing out these fungicides within a decade or so, but I think the official reason is human not environmental health. It makes me wonder if the reason for this new potato variety is to undermine the fungicide ban, and ensure the area can keep being used for chemical intensive potato production.