DNA Planned in Potato Trial in New
Zealand
OTC 28.09.98 08:21
WELLINGTON (Sept. 28) XINHUA - DNA from toads and silkworms would be added to New Zealand
potatoes in an official genetic engineering experiment in Canterbury Plain in New
Zealand's South Island, the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) reported Monday.
The Institute for Crop and Food Research of New Zealand is planning to start two five-year
projects trying to make "potatoes resistant to soft rot bacteria and tuber moth
larvae", researcher Jeanette Fitzsimons was quoted as saying.
As part of field trials, DNA sequences derived from toads, silkworms and various plants
and bacteria would be tested in potatoes, she said.
"Very few people know of this idea to add animal and insect genes to one of our
staple foods and I would urge them to give their opinions of this plan," Fitzsimons
said.
"If we did that, we would have a huge marketing opportunity as producers of clean,
healthy food," she said. Enditem
=09280708 28/09/98 07:12 GMT
Copyright 1998