Potatoes are nutritious and full of vitamins. Because of this, a person could be fine living off of solely potatoes. In the 1800s, a person in Europe might eat an average of five pounds of potatoes a day, from breakfast to dinner. It’s been noted to be the only crop “hardy enough” for a poor population to live off of. The dependence on milk and potatoes grew specifically in Ireland as the population grew from around 3.5 million to 8 million from the 1700s to around the 1840s/50s. Over two-fifths of the population were dependent on the potato crop as their only source of food. In 1845, potato fields of Dublin experienced failure. It turned out that the weather of Ireland was ideal for the growth and flourishing of an infectious fungus that ruined potato growth for years to come. As a result, the poor suffered from famine, fever, and disease. They became even more vulnerable to other diseases as they became weaker and lived with poor hygiene and lack of sanitation.

This yeast-like fungus, Phytophthora infestans, infected potatoes and their seeds for years to come, serving as the pathogen for the blight and changing the potato plantations overnight. As most farmers did not actually own the land and only tended to it to stay, the rich who owned the land were upset. The farmers, in many cases, because homeless and hungry, eventually dying of starvation. The potato blight lead to a great famine, which in turn lead to migration to the United States. Consequences resulted from this exploration as well. Foreign diseases were spread onto those who inhibited United States from across the ocean.

Evidence suggests that the pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, originated in the soils of Mexico. They were transported from Mexico to North America (United States), and over to Europe. Two strains have been identified: HERB-1 and US-1. HERB-1 infected Ireland, where, as previously stated, optimal weather was provided for the highly infectious strain. Even today, this pathogen still can affect the growth of potatoes.

To combat Phytophthora infestans, however, scientists have genetically modified the DNA of potatoes to be resistant to the pathogen. These genetically engineered potatoes have been approved by both the EPA and the FDA to ensure safety of both the environment and health. Potatoes were modified by adding genes that were resistant to the blight in order to create the overall resistance for the potato. Potential harms of genetically modified potatoes or other foods could include include less nutrients, antibiotic resistance, and an increased toxicity of the foods (ENHS).

Help received: powerpoint, class notes, film, http://bmcbiotechnol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6750-14-50, http://enhs.umn.edu/current/5103/gm/harmful.html