What was the Irish Potato Blight?
Originating in South America, Spanish conquistadors brought the potato to Europe in the 1500s. Before the end of the century, Sir Walter Raleigh had introduced the potato to Ireland. By the 1700s, the country relied heavily on the crop as a food staple.1 Ireland’s cool, damp, and cloudy climate made it the perfect place to grow potatoes, as it was very similar to the highlands of their origin.2 The potato provided the Irish with an abundance of nutrients that were sorely lacking from the diets of many Europeans of the time.3 Half of a medium sized potato contains roughly 94 calories, 21 grams of carbohydrates, over 500 miligrams of potassium, and 2 grams each of fiber and protein.4 The introduction of this crop vastly improved living throughout Europe. By 1840, the population of Ireland alone had doubled because of the immense nutrional value provided by the potato, which greatly contributed to making the population stronger and hardier at a time when living conditions were extremely poor.2, 3
In the later half of the 1840s, Ireland suffered from a famine of this most valuable crop. A water mold, Phytophthora infestans, caused late blight of the potato plant and devastaed the nation.5 This disease thrives when in humid regions and is inhibited by hot, dry weather.5 The blight hit Ireland at a time when they were experiencing rather cool and misty weather– perfect conditions for the disease to prosper in.6 It is believed that this mold originated in Peru and was brought to Europe via guano ships.3 The Irish grew only one or two varieties of potato, this limited genetic variation of the crop and effectively resulted in genetically identical plants.7 Once this blight reached Ireland, the large quantities of potato crops planted (due to the heavy reliance on the crop by the Irish) were attacked harder and harder each year until it began to dwindle in 1852. However, with the severity of the blight’s impact on the crop, it drastically impacted the population, reducing the nation by half.3
Not only did many die as a result of the potato famine, but it resulted in great economic stress. Farmers not only had no food to put on their tables, but they had no crops to sell– meaning that they had no income and no means by which to pay rent. Many were thus indebted, evicted, and sent to workhouses. Many others emigrated from their home in search of better circumstances, often to North America.7 In America, Irish immigrants found themselves living in shanty towns and ghettos that were not much better than the small cottages they left behind in Ireland.8 Most lived in tenement housing that sorely lacked proper plumbing, ventelation, and running water.9 Waste, for example, was poorly maintained and rarely properly taken care of. Sewage systems were extremely faulty in design and not connected for use of by the majority of the population. Thus, the use of trenches and neglected outhouses often resulted in the spillover of waste into the streets were the population easily came in contact with it. This, compounded with other poor living conditions, aided immensely in the spread of infectious diseases, such as thypiod, yellow fever, cholera, tuberculosis, and more.9 Likewise, of those that remained in Ireland, a vast number fell victim to famine-related diseases, like typhus, in addition to starvation.7
Today, as a means to prevent and combat the devastating effects of diseases on crops, livestock, and the human population, genetic modification has been looked to as a potential solution. Scientists are able to perform genetic editing to manipulate the genes of organisms to reflect the traits that are more favorable in fighting off disease and producing better crops and livestock. This type of modification helps farmers to grow hardier and more productive animals, which is especially important in impovershed areas where inbreeding has inhibited productivity.10 There have been mosquitoes that were editied so that they could not carry carry malaria; some bulls have been modified not to grow horns to avoid the whole removal process that they would likely later endure; salmon have been edited to grow to market size faster than they otherwise would and have subsequently been FDA approved for consumption.10, 11, 12 Recently, in China, one scientist has claimed to have genetically edited twin girls to be resistant to HIV infection using CRISPR.13 While there can be great benefit in genetically modifying organisms in order to prevent the transmission of and susceptibility to disease or to improve agricultural prospects, there is a fine line between improving the world and messing with the intracies of nature. If we are not careful and reserved in our efforts to improve global conditions through genetic modification, we could very well find ourselves in world so changed by science that we can not come back from it– one that may have dire consequences if said efforts become too ambitious or alter too much. Moving forward, we should always be cognisant of the impact that geneticaly modifying and manipulating any species of living organism may have not only on that species, but on the world in which we all live– whether that impact be for good or otherwise.
For Your Listening and Viewing Pleasure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3GOxQDqPI0