Re: Cause of Potato Famine & Why Its Coming Back

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I have nothing to do with any of that.

On 12/29/09, Deborah wrote:
> 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.
>>>>>>