The potato was extremely vital in Irish society in the 19th century because it made up most of the diet of the average Irish citizen. The potato is a high yield crop and is relatively easy to farm. It is not only easier to farm it provides most nutrients that are required by people (Irish combined it with milk), so it is clear to see how important the potato was to Irish citizens in the 19th century. Some factors that lead to the severity in the potato blight were that Ireland had an increasing population, land owners exploited “peasants”, enforced exports of food crops to England, terrible housing conditions/poor standards of living, and the potato was almost the sole food that Irish ate. The biological factor that led to the potato blight was the pathogen phytophthora infestans and it originated in central Mexico. The potato was extremely vulnerable at the time in Ireland because the farmers had only planted one type of potato and that one type was very susceptible to phytophthora infestans, so it spread rapidly to almost all of the potatoes. It also did not help Ireland considering the summer that the potato blight hit was extremely wet and allowed the spores of phytophthora infestans to grow more rapidly. The blight caused approximately one million deaths and caused around one million Irish citizens to emigrate from Ireland to America (mostly). If it wasn’t bad enough that the blight killed scores of Irish people, other diseases took their toll like measles, cholera, TB, and other respiratory infections. Many of the Irish people got the previously mentioned diseases because of the poor living conditions they were exposed to in Ireland and tenements in the U.S.

Concerning the modification of genes, I believe that the benefits outweigh the risks in many situations. If we can modify the genes in crops, animals, insect vectors, and embryos to ultimately better society in the end I am all for it. A benefit of modifying genes in crops would be more disease resistant crops which means more food. Modifying genes in animals could help certain endangered species increase their population. Most importantly, I believe modifying genes in embryos could produce intellectually and physically superior human beings for future society. A major risk in all gene modification is that it could go wrong and produce side effects (mutations) that are not wanted. Even though there is a risk to performing gene modification I believe that the scientific advancements that could be accomplished outweigh the risk.

Help Received: Powerpoint on canvas, class research