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Cause of Irish potato famine finally solved
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Winston_Smith
May 22, 2013, 2:28:04 PM5/22/13
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What a wonderful bio-warfare project for the DNA labs.
WS
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/mystery-cause-of-irish-potato-famine-finally-solved
Mystery cause of Irish potato famine finally solved
John Platt
After 168 years, the pathogen that created the blight has been
identified - and it may never be seen again.
The Potato Famine Memorial in Dublin. (Photo: haselton68/Flickr)
The Irish Potato Famine killed about 1 million people in the mid-19th
century, but the exact strain of the potato blight that caused massive
crop failures has never been identified, until now.
According to research to be published in the journal eLife, the Great
Famine was caused by a previously unidentified strain of the
fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Scientists have long
known that this pathogen caused the famine, but the events in Ireland
had previously been linked to a strain of the pathogen called US-1.
A research team led by Sainsbury Laboratory in the U.K. wanted to know
if that was true. They extracted DNA from several museum samples
collected in the 1840s - potato plant leaves that contained traces of
the blight - and compared them to modern-day strains of the pathogen.
They found that it was not US-1 and was, in fact, something new. "This
strain was different from all the modern strains that we analyzed -
most likely it is new to science," Sainsbury Laboratory's Sophien
Kamoun told BBC News. They have dubbed the strain HERB-1.
Kamoun said the research revealed something else: the HERB-1 blight
may no longer exist. "We can't be sure, but most likely it's gone
extinct," he said.
The researchers say HERB-1 likely originated in Mexico, which supports
long-held suppositions. Their genetic tests found that it was similar
to US-1, which is still found around the world. As they wrote in the
abstract to their paper, "HERB-1 is distinct from all examined modern
strains, but it is a close relative of US-1, which replaced it outside
of Mexico in the 20th century."
HERB-1 may have only existed on Earth for a few decades, and possibly
only a few years before it began its deadly impact. The US-1 and
HERB-1 strains "seem to have separated from each other only years
before the first major outbreak in Europe," co-author Hern�n Burbano
from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology said in a news
release about the discovery.
WS
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/mystery-cause-of-irish-potato-famine-finally-solved
Mystery cause of Irish potato famine finally solved
John Platt
After 168 years, the pathogen that created the blight has been
identified - and it may never be seen again.
The Potato Famine Memorial in Dublin. (Photo: haselton68/Flickr)
The Irish Potato Famine killed about 1 million people in the mid-19th
century, but the exact strain of the potato blight that caused massive
crop failures has never been identified, until now.
According to research to be published in the journal eLife, the Great
Famine was caused by a previously unidentified strain of the
fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Scientists have long
known that this pathogen caused the famine, but the events in Ireland
had previously been linked to a strain of the pathogen called US-1.
A research team led by Sainsbury Laboratory in the U.K. wanted to know
if that was true. They extracted DNA from several museum samples
collected in the 1840s - potato plant leaves that contained traces of
the blight - and compared them to modern-day strains of the pathogen.
They found that it was not US-1 and was, in fact, something new. "This
strain was different from all the modern strains that we analyzed -
most likely it is new to science," Sainsbury Laboratory's Sophien
Kamoun told BBC News. They have dubbed the strain HERB-1.
Kamoun said the research revealed something else: the HERB-1 blight
may no longer exist. "We can't be sure, but most likely it's gone
extinct," he said.
The researchers say HERB-1 likely originated in Mexico, which supports
long-held suppositions. Their genetic tests found that it was similar
to US-1, which is still found around the world. As they wrote in the
abstract to their paper, "HERB-1 is distinct from all examined modern
strains, but it is a close relative of US-1, which replaced it outside
of Mexico in the 20th century."
HERB-1 may have only existed on Earth for a few decades, and possibly
only a few years before it began its deadly impact. The US-1 and
HERB-1 strains "seem to have separated from each other only years
before the first major outbreak in Europe," co-author Hern�n Burbano
from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology said in a news
release about the discovery.
deep
May 22, 2013, 2:50:37 PM5/22/13
to
On Wed, 22 May 2013 11:28:04 -0700, Winston_Smith
<inv...@butterfly.net> wrote:
>What a wonderful bio-warfare project for the DNA labs.
>WS
It won't work anymore on potatoes. They've been bred for resistance.
<inv...@butterfly.net> wrote:
>What a wonderful bio-warfare project for the DNA labs.
>WS
Winston_Smith
May 22, 2013, 3:28:17 PM5/22/13
to
versions.
Winston_Smith
May 22, 2013, 3:30:55 PM5/22/13
to
On Wed, 22 May 2013 12:50:37 -0600, deep wrote:
has been extinct for a century.
deep
May 22, 2013, 8:22:20 PM5/22/13
to
some time now. I don't believe this discovery is much of anything
more than a historical point of interest.
rbowman
May 22, 2013, 8:52:43 PM5/22/13
to
Winston_Smith wrote:
> The Irish Potato Famine killed about 1 million people in the mid-19th
> century, but the exact strain of the potato blight that caused massive
> crop failures has never been identified, until now.
Considering that Ireland was a net exporter of food during the Famine, I
> The Irish Potato Famine killed about 1 million people in the mid-19th
> century, but the exact strain of the potato blight that caused massive
> crop failures has never been identified, until now.
think it would be more accurate to say the British killed 1 million Irish
Catholics.
Gunner Asch
May 22, 2013, 9:24:28 PM5/22/13
to
On Wed, 22 May 2013 18:52:43 -0600, rbowman <bow...@montana.com>
wrote:
What..you didnt know that?
British landowners and the Irish sharecroppers...and the English came
first ...they took the best and the most...and the Irish starved
Gunner
--
"You guess the truth hurts?
Really?
"Hurt" aint the word.
For Liberals, the truth is like salt to a slug.
Sunlight to a vampire.
Raid® to a cockroach.
Sheriff Brody to a shark
Bush to a Liberal
The truth doesn't just hurt. It's painful, like a red hot poker shoved
up their ass. Like sliding down a hundred foot razor blade using their
dick as a brake.
They HATE the truth."
wrote:
British landowners and the Irish sharecroppers...and the English came
first ...they took the best and the most...and the Irish starved
Gunner
--
"You guess the truth hurts?
Really?
"Hurt" aint the word.
For Liberals, the truth is like salt to a slug.
Sunlight to a vampire.
Raid® to a cockroach.
Sheriff Brody to a shark
Bush to a Liberal
The truth doesn't just hurt. It's painful, like a red hot poker shoved
up their ass. Like sliding down a hundred foot razor blade using their
dick as a brake.
They HATE the truth."
Winston_Smith
May 22, 2013, 10:33:41 PM5/22/13
to
what.
John Q. Public
May 23, 2013, 11:24:02 PM5/23/13
to
grew in Ireland.
David J. Hughes
May 24, 2013, 8:23:49 AM5/24/13
to
Potatoes providing 75% of daily calories, yes.
That, and pigs raised mostly on potatoes.
Potatoes, cabbage, onions, turnips, cream, milk, butter, pork and
bacon, salt and herbs.
That was pretty much the Irish diet in the early 1800's.
rbowman
May 24, 2013, 10:00:35 AM5/24/13
to
David J. Hughes wrote:
> Potatoes, cabbage, onions, turnips, cream, milk, butter, pork and
> bacon, salt and herbs.
Nothing wrong with colcannon. That's my personal traditional St. Patrick's
> Potatoes, cabbage, onions, turnips, cream, milk, butter, pork and
> bacon, salt and herbs.
Day supper. A 19th century Irishman saw beef, corned or otherwise, when the
cow died.
David J. Hughes
May 24, 2013, 3:29:45 PM5/24/13
to
Crubeens
Colcannon
Boxty
Boiled ham and cabbage
Dublin Coddle
Some good eating, there.
rbowman
May 24, 2013, 10:29:15 PM5/24/13
to
David J. Hughes wrote:
> Crubeens
I generally stop at the hocks. Nothing against pig feet or spare ribs but
there's an awful lot of chewing to get the good eating.
> Crubeens
I generally stop at the hocks. Nothing against pig feet or spare ribs but
there's an awful lot of chewing to get the good eating.
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