Blight, Diaspora, and the Future of Genetically Modified Crops: The Irish Potato Famine and Epidemics in Agriculture
In the mid 19th century Ireland was struck by one of the worst agricultural disasters in human history. While stemming from a distinctly pathogenic organism, resulting political, social, and economic realities in Ireland would result in the starvation of millions and the forced migration of many more. Ireland in the 19th century was a socially divided nation, with an Anglican aristocracy imported from England ruling over Catholic tenant farmers that they had slowly overtaken in long centuries of Anglo-Irish warfare. In the northern Irish province of Ulster in particular, the Anglican aristocracy played a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian population against the Catholics as a further mechanism of keeping the rebellious Irish in their place. Due to crop restrictions placed by British landlords, in many cases Irish Catholics were restricted to solely farming potatoes, making it a staple of their diet. As a result, many of the Irish farms became played out making them susceptible to infection by fungi. The fungus Phytophthora infestans originated in Mexico and made it to Europe on passenger ships bringing the new crop: potatoes. As a consequence of the famine, many of the landowners evicted their tenants to make room for lucrative cattle ranching on their plots of land. As a result, massive portions of the population were left to starve in Ireland’s countryside. Others boarded ships for the United States and other destinations. All told, over 1 million people died, and Ireland’s population fell by 25% between starvation and emigration.
As technology continues its march forward, there have been increasing opportunities for humanity to genetically alter plants, animals, and humans. Benefits include increase crop yields for plants, or resistance to certain diseases or insect predators. Growth genes can be upregulated, so crops grow to previously unreachable size. For animals, genetic manipulation can introduce resistance to disease in livestock, increase growth, or even insert genes to have them produce substances that they normally could not. However, there are significant risks involved with genetic engineering in plants and animals. Tampering with genes could lead to severe health impacts on animals, resulting in unnecessary suffering. Implanting foreign genes in the genome of a plant could result in it growing beyond proportion and becoming an invasive species, or the plant emitting toxins that were not expected.