Researchers from the US universities of Oregon and Michigan, and the South Korean Kyung Hee University are developing potatoes capable of surviving in temperatures as low as -5 ºC Photo: Luke Miller

Genetically modified potatoes, capable of surviving in temperatures as low as -5 ºC, are being developed by researchers from the US universities of Oregon and Michigan, and the South Korean Kyung Hee University.

Dr Tony Chen and colleagues report the successful transfer of genes for freeze tolerance in Arabidopsis plants into potato plants in a paper in Plant Biotechnology Journal. The new lines also have fewer agronomically undesirable traits, such as delayed flowering and retarded growth.  Similar projects are now planned for other low temperature-sensitive crops.
By Simon Varcoe

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