Defra has given scientists at The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) the go ahead to conduct a three-year trial on genetically modified (GM) potatoes.
Scientists at TSL - part of the John Innes Centre - are testing potatoes that have been genetically modified to resist late potato blight (Phytophthora infestans), which causes some £3.5bn annual losses across the globe and costs growers £350 per hectare to control each season.
Two genes that give potatoes resistance against the pathogen have been isolated from wild South American inedible potato species for the trial.
A BBSRC representative said: "Our approach has a high likelihood of helping to minimise the impact of agriculture on the environment by reducing applications of fungicides for late blight control.
"The purpose of this trial is to test the efficacy of the blight resistance genes. Should this trial be successful, we hope that companies will want in future to license the genes and deploy them in commercial crops."
