Editing Potato (section)

=== Genetic engineering ===

{{main|Genetically engineered potato}}

[[File:Auspflanzung Schweden 2.jpg|thumb|Amflora potatoes, modified to produce pure [[amylopectin]] starch]]

Genetic research has produced several [[genetically modified]] varieties. 'New Leaf', owned by [[Monsanto Company]], incorporates genes from ''[[Bacillus thuringiensis]]'' (source of most [[Bt toxin |''Bt'' toxins]] in [[Bt crops |transcrop use]]), which confers resistance to the [[Colorado potato beetle]]; 'New Leaf Plus' and 'New Leaf Y', approved by US regulatory agencies during the 1990s, also include resistance to [[potato virus |viruses]]. [[McDonald's]], [[Burger King]], [[Frito-Lay]], and [[Procter & Gamble]] announced they would not use [[genetically modified potato]]es, and Monsanto published its intent to discontinue the line in March 2001.<ref>{{cite web |title=Genetically Engineered Organisms Public Issues Education Project/Am I eating GE potatoes? |url=http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/crops/potato.html |access-date=16 December 2008 |publisher=[[Cornell University]] |archive-date=3 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103033654/http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/crops/potato.html}}</ref>

Potato starch contains two types of [[glucan]], [[amylose]] and [[amylopectin]], the latter of which is most industrially useful. Waxy potato varieties produce [[waxy potato starch]], which is almost entirely amylopectin, with little or no amylose. [[BASF]] developed the '[[Amflora]]' potato, which was modified to express [[antisense RNA]] to inactivate the gene for [[NDP-glucose—starch glucosyltransferase |granule bound starch synthase]], an enzyme which catalyzes the formation of amylose.<ref>{{cite web |title=GMO compass database |url=http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/gmo/popups/55.potato_eh92_527_1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009210148/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/gmo/popups/55.potato_eh92_527_1.html |archive-date=9 October 2014 |access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> 'Amflora' potatoes therefore produce starch consisting almost entirely of [[amylopectin]], and are thus more useful for the starch industry. In 2010, the European Commission cleared the way for 'Amflora' to be grown in the European Union for industrial purposes only—not for food. Nevertheless, under EU rules, individual countries have the right to decide whether they will allow this potato to be grown on their territory. Commercial planting of 'Amflora' was expected in the Czech Republic and Germany in the spring of 2010, and Sweden and the Netherlands in subsequent years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-05-31 |title=GM potatoes: BASF at work |url=http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/492.docu.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531073525/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/492.docu.html |archive-date=31 May 2010 }}</ref> 

The 'Fortuna'<!-- see de:Fortuna (Kartoffel) fr:Fortuna (pomme de terre) --> GM potato variety developed by BASF was made resistant to [[Phytophthora infestans |late blight]] by [[introgression|introgressing]] two resistance genes, {{Visible anchor |blb1}} and {{Visible anchor |blb2}}, from ''[[Solanum bulbocastanum |S. bulbocastanum]]'', a wild potato native to Mexico.<ref name="Receptor-Mediated"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-02 |title=Research in Germany: Business BASF applies for approval for another biotech potato |url=http://www.research-in-germany.de/84190/2011-11-17-business-basf-applies-for-approval-for-another-biotech-potato.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602111343/http://www.research-in-germany.de/84190/2011-11-17-business-basf-applies-for-approval-for-another-biotech-potato.html |archive-date=2 June 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burger |first=Ludwig |date=2015-11-10 |title=BASF applies for EU approval for Fortuna GM potato |website=[[Reuters]] |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/31/us-basf-idUSTRE79U41Q20111031 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110105537/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/31/us-basf-idUSTRE79U41Q20111031 |archive-date=10 November 2015 }}</ref> {{Vanchor|Rpi-blb1}} is a [[nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat]] (NB-LRR/NLR), an R-gene-produced immunoreceptor.<ref name="Receptor-Mediated"> {{Cite journal |last1=Oh |first1=Soohyun |last2=Choi |first2=Doil |year=2022 |title=Receptor-mediated nonhost resistance in plants |department=Review |journal=Essays in Biochemistry |publisher=[[Portland Press Limited]] ([[Biochemical Society]]) |volume=66 |issue=5 |pages=435–445 |doi=10.1042/EBC20210080 |pmc=9528085 |pmid=35388900 |s2cid=247999992}}</ref>

In October 2011, BASF requested cultivation and marketing approval as a feed and food from the EFSA. In 2012, GMO development in Europe was stopped by BASF.<ref>[http://www.dw.de/basf-stops-gm-crop-development-in-europe/a-15671900 BASF stops GM crop development in Europe], ''Deutsche Welle'', 17 January 2012</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kanter |first=James |title=BASF to Stop Selling Genetically Modified Products in Europe |work=The New York Times |date=16 January 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/business/global/17iht-gmo17.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240123213954/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/business/global/17iht-gmo17.html |archive-date=23 January 2024 |access-date=23 January 2024}}</ref> In November 2014, the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) approved a genetically modified potato developed by [[Simplot]], which contains genetic modifications that prevent bruising and produce less [[acrylamide]] when fried than conventional potatoes; the modifications do not cause new proteins to be made, but rather prevent proteins from being made via [[RNA interference]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pollack |first=Andrew |date=November 7, 2014 |title=U.S.D.A. Approves Modified Potato. Next Up: French Fry Fans |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/business/genetically-modified-potato-from-simplot-approved-by-usda.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141112021024/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/business/genetically-modified-potato-from-simplot-approved-by-usda.html?_r=0 |archive-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>

Genetically modified varieties have met public resistance in the U.S. and in the European Union.<ref>{{cite news |year=2002 |title=Consumer acceptance of genetically modified potatoes |journal=American Journal of Potato Research |url=http://www.agbioforum.org/v7n12/v7n12a13-mccluskey.pdf |url-status=dead |access-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101142414/http://www.agbioforum.org/v7n12/v7n12a13-mccluskey.pdf |archive-date=1 November 2012 |id=cited through Bnet}}</ref><ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news |last=Rosenthal |first=Elisabeth |date=24 July 2007 |title=A genetically modified potato, not for eating, is stirring some opposition in Europe |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/24/business/worldbusiness/24spuds.html |access-date=15 November 2008}}</ref>

{{anchor|Growth}}