GM Blight Resistant Potato Trial in Belgium

[PatrickW]

Sorry, it's in Dutch, but you can use Google translate:

www.velt.be/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1357&Itemid=62

The Belgian government has decided to give the University of Ghent permission to do a field trial of GM blight resistant potatoes which are patented by BASF.

I assume these are the same as the ones tested in the UK last year, but I'm not sure.

[thefuture]

is there a translation tool for pdf files I wonder. I have an interesting document on korean organic techniques written in filipino.

[Tom Wagner]

I just wonder what the results will be for accepting the Late blight resistant Desiree with the Solanum venturii insert. When I look at the accessions within GRIN, I don't see the blight resistance so loudly hailed. 24 chromosomes are typical of venturii clones and in some ways I don't see this as quite the dangerous GM monster that so many other GM products are, however....let the cat out of the bag....relates to the fraud of substituting a cat for a piglet at markets.....who knows what fraud will be imposed on us?

Desiree has viable pollen and can be used both as a female and as a male in crosses. This makes the GM Desiree a Trojan Horse....A Trojan horse, or Trojan Potato, is a potato variety that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior growing and consuming , but (perhaps in addition to the expected function) injects genetic information into surrounding germplasm or harms the system of potato growing, hereby making the potato industry off-limits to the public fearful of such GM products. It will make potato farmers food security agents against the backyard gardener.

Potato fields with GM potatoes will be monitored around the clock to make sure no one enters the field, picks up a potato, and worse; makes sure that all GM potatoes are chemically treated to the hilt to make sure they never grow for the fresh market.

What I hate about GM products is that it makes someone like me the enemy.


www.biosafety-council.be/docs/Advice_BAC_B_BE_10_V1.pdf

Here is what I know is happening so far...

Two year field trial with genetically modified potatoes that are less susceptible to late blight
Proposed period of release:
01/04/2011 to 31/10/2012
A2. Notifier
Name of the Institute(s) or Company(ies)
University of Ghent
Type of genetic modification
Insertion of genetic material.
B4. In case of insertion of genetic material, give the source and intended function of each
constituent fragment of the region to be inserted
The region to be inserted, which is flanked by the T-DNA borders from the Ti-plasmid of
Agrobacterium tumefaciens contains either:
- One resistance gene (Rpi-vnt1, stemming from solanum venturii)
- One resistance gene and a selection marker gene (Rpi-sto1 + nptII, stemming from
solanum stoloniferum and from Tn5 respectively)
- Three resistance genes and a selection marker gene (Rpi-vnt1+Rpi-sto1+Rpi-blb3+nptII,
stemming from solanum venturii, )
As already indicated under B2 the Rpi-genes contribute to a decreased susceptibility to late
blight. All three Rpi-genes involved are under the control of their own natural expression signals.

[PatrickW]

Tom: I think if they were trying to make GM varieties for legitimate reasons, there would be a lot less opposition to them.

Thefuture: If the pdf file is online, then you can give Google Translate a link to it and it will translate the document.

[thefuture]

thanks. a quick search also found other web resources where copy and paste would work (it is a download, not a website in my case).