Re: Cause of Potato Famine & Why Its Coming Back

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Oh, the class action over the formaldehyde and FEMA trailers...

On 12/29/09, Mike B. wrote:
> Which FEMA trailer suit are you referring to?
>
> On 12/28/09, Deborah wrote:
>> sorry, I realize that might be over your head, I just thought
>> you'd realize it and have enough sense to let someone else
> respond...
>>
>> Oh, maybe you were responding to Sharon's post rather than mine?
>>
>> Hey, how did that FEMA trailer suit work out?
>>
>> On 12/28/09, Mike B. wrote:
>>> So......how do you make the leap to the conclusion that the
>>> potato famine is coming back?
>>>
>>> On 12/27/09, Deborah wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Malaria, potato famine pathogen share surprising trait
>>>>
>>>> http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/297/malaria-potato-famine-
>>> pathogen-share-surprising-trait
>>>>
>>>> On 12/27/09, Sharon wrote:
>>>>> http://www.naturalnews.com/027801_potato_famine_crop_failure
>>>>> .html
>>>>>
>>>>> (NaturalNews) Researchers have sequenced the genome of the
>>>>> fungus responsible for the Great Irish Potato Famine in the
>>>>> 1800s, uncovering the reason that the organism continues to
>>>>> plague potato farmers to this day.
>>>>>
>>>>> "This pathogen has an exquisite ability to adapt and
>>>>> change, and that's what makes it so dangerous," said lead
>>>>> researcher Chad Nusbaum of the Broad Institute in
>>>>> Cambridge, Mass.
>>>>>
>>>>> The organism, known as Phytophthora infestans, is a type of
>>>>> water mold that continues to cost potato farmers billions
>>>>> of dollars every year. It prefers cool, wet climates and is
>>>>> capable of destroying entire fields of potatoes and
>>>>> tomatoes within only a few days. In 2003, P. infestans
>>>>> destroyed Papua New Guinea's entire potato crop.
>>>>>
>>>>> The mold evolves resistance to antifungal sprays with
>>>>> astonishing speed. In just the last few years, potato
>>>>> farmers in the United Kingdom have increased chemical
>>>>> spraying by 30 percent in an attempt to hold the organism
>>>>> at bay, and the ongoing blight in Ireland has been
>>>>> called "the worst in living memory," according to the BBC.
>>>>>
>>>>> According to information published in the journal Nature,
>>>>> P. infestans' genome is especially large, at least twice as
>>>>> long as the genetic code of its closest relatives. Some
>>>>> regions of the genome are particularly dense, containing
>>>>> many genes in a small area, while others are much less
>>>>> dense. It is these gene-light areas that may hold the key
>>>>> to the organism's adaptability: more than 700 key genes
>>>>> were mapped in these regions, some of them coding for
>>>>> attacks on potatoes' immune systems.
>>>>>
>>>>> "The regions change rapidly over time, acting as a kind of
>>>>> incubator to enable the rapid birth and death of genes that
>>>>> are key to plant infection," said co-lead author Brian
>>>>> Haas. "As a result, these critical genes may be gained and
>>>>> lost so rapidly that the hosts simply can't keep up."
>>>>>
>>>>> Modern agriculture has exacerbated the problem, said Paul
>>>>> Birch of the Scottish Crop Research Institute. Widespread
>>>>> application of chemicals encourages pest evolution, while
>>>>> genetic standardization of food crops makes them more
>>>>> vulnerable to infestation.
>>>>>