South Africa develops new GM potato variety

South Africa's Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has developed a new potato variety resistant to the potato tuber moth, a major pests causing millions worth of harvest loss in major solanaceous crops.

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The Scientific Solution

This season, hundreds of potato growers are tentatively watching their crops for signs of one of the most virulent strains of blight to have so far evolved in the UK - genotype 13.

Its presence has prompted the Potato Council to step up its Fight Against Blight (FAB) and Blightwatch alerting services and is a reminder of the increasing threat that diseases and pests pose to UK horticulture and agriculture.

Given these circumstances, a genetically modified (GM), blight- resistant crop could be a saviour to many potato growers - as could other kinds of GM crops to a number of growers.

But controversy still surrounds this technology - despite the fact that countries such as Canada and the US have been using it for years.

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Scientists reopen debate over GM food

Scientists have genetically engineered fruit and vegetables capable of providing most of a day’s nutrients in a single meal.

Heading towards the market are potatoes with 33% more protein content, modified tomatoes that could be capable of protecting against cancer and peanuts without the chemicals that cause deadly nut allergies.

Cassava has been packed with new genes that help the plant accumulate extra iron and zinc from the soil, and synthesise vitamins E and A.

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Activists destroy Leeds University potato trial

A TRIAL to develop a genetically modified potato that could save the UK potato industry £50million a year and benefit farmers worldwide has been destroyed by activists after just three weeks.

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UK: Government takes fresh look at GM crops

Genetically modified crops could be grown in Britain on a wider scale as a means of dealing with the global food crisis, it was revealed today.

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UK: Genetically-modified crop field destroyed by eco-warriors

Eco-warriors have destroyed an entire crop of genetically modified potatoes - wiping out vital research to help end famine worldwide.

No one has claimed responsibility for the destruction of thousands of the spuds in a field near Tadcaster, North Yorks.

But Environment Minister Phil Woolas, who had sanctioned the trial by scientists at Leeds University, last night launched a furious attack on the "gutless" group behind the incident.

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Benn Gives Go-Ahead for New GM Potato Trial

Ministers have given permission for thousands of GM potatoes to be grown in Britain, a decision that is bound to provoke a new confrontation with environmentalists.

Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for the Environment , has agreed to let scientists at Leeds University cultivate the potato, which has been engineered to resist eelworm, in a trial over the next three years in a test field near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. The GM Freeze protest group is considering taking legal action.

The move follows repeated clashes over a different experimental GM potato, modified against blight, in Britain last year. Trials had to be abandoned following protests by environmentalists and local farmers.

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