HowtoMaketheDesirablePotato

Idea:
Geneticallymodifyingpotatoestoproducetheidealfoodthatonepersoncouldexclusively
liveoffof.

Problem:
Theproblemthathasbeenplaguingcities,kingdoms,countriesandpeoplefor
centuriesistheneedforfoodsincethedawnoflifeonthisplaneteveryorganismhasneededa
formofsustenancetolivethiscontinuesontodayandtherearepeoplewhostrugglewithgetting
allthenecessaryvitaminsandmineralsdaily.Potatoeshaveexistedonthisplanetforhundreds
ofyearsandhavebeenusedbymanyculturesforamainsourceoffood.Thisisbecausetheyare
easytogrowandcultivateandaren'thardtoprepare.Theproblemwiththecurrentpotatoesis
thattheyaren'thighinnutritionorprotein.Iftheycouldbegeneticallymodifiedtohavethese
traitsthenwecouldusethemasaprimarysourceoffoodifotherfoodsstarttoparish.Ourgroup
pickedpotatoesbecausetheyareextremelyeasytogrowandcouldbeasolutiontoworld
hunger.Potatoesalreadyhaveabout4.3gramsofproteinperaserving,Ourgroupbelievesthat
thiscanchange.

PreviousattemptstoSolvethisproblem:
Geneticengineeringisnotuncommoninour
agriculturalworld.Infact,geneticallymodifiedfoodisabigpartofwhatweeat.Food,usually
cashcrops,havebeenmodifiedbeforetohavemorenutritionalvalueorhavearesistance
pesticidesorherbicides.Forexample,cornusedforfoodandethanolhasbeengenetically
modifiedtotolerateweedkillersandexpressaproteinthatkillssomeinsects.80%ofHawaiian
papayasaregeneticallymodifiedbecauseofthedeadlypapayaringspotvirus
Afoodthatwasgeneticallyalteredfornutritionalbenefits,likewhatwewanttodotothe
potato,isgoldenrice.Goldenriceisavarietyofricegeneticallyengineeredtobiosynthesize
betacarotene,aprecursorofvitaminA.Goldenricewasmadewiththeintentionofsupplying
vitaminAtoareaswithashortageofthedietaryvitamin.

CurrentLimitations/Presentneed:
Geneticallymodifyingpotatoesforhealthandnutrition
benefitshavebeenfacedwithrisksandlimitations.Microscopicandmoleculareffectshavebeen
reportedinorgansandtissuesduetoGMfoods.Thesesideeffectspeopleencounterinterfere
withtheprocessoftryingtomaximizehealthbenefits.Peopleencounterdeficienciesinvitamins
A,B12,andE.Andbyjusteatingpotatoes,theyaremissingoutoncalciumandselenium.
Seleniumhasantioxidantpropertiesthathelpprotectcellsfromdamage.
Inhybridizationthebestofbothorganismslikediseaseresistanceandfoodproduction
werecombinedinBurbankpotatoes.Itincreasesuncontrolledgrowthandthismightbea
problem.Geneticallymodifiedorganisms(GMO)mightactuallyreducegeneticvariation.The
DNAcodingwilleventuallybecomemoresimilarwithalesserdistinctioninbetweenthe
species.Itisimportantthattheyhavemoregeneticvariation,becauseitgivestheorganismsa
wideropportunitytobeadaptedtotheirenvironment.


OurSolution:
Oursolutionistogetpotatoesandchangetheirgeneticstructuresothattheycancontain
thingsthattheydonthavealreadyinhighquantitysothattheycanbeeatenasamaindishon
people'splates.Thisideaisintheorysofarreallybeneficialsincethecropwouldbeabletobe
grownquicklyandinlargeamounts,sinceallyouneedisthetubersofapotatotogetmore
potatoes.Thisgeneticallymodifiedpotatowouldalsohavemoreproteinavailablefromadding
theACTBgeneintothepotatoallowingittomakemoreActinwhichisaproteinsothatvegans
andvegetarianscouldeatitastheirmainproteinssource.Notonlythatbutthefactthatmore
proteinisinthepotatowouldalsomakeitthickerandbecauseitwouldbethickeritwouldbe
weatherresistant.Thiswouldallowthepotatotocontainmorecaloriesthananormalpotatosoa
personwouldnthavetoeattwentypoundsofpotatoestogetthenecessarycaloriesfortheday.
AvitaminthatwewerethinkingofalsoputtinginwastheB12vitaminthereasonbeing
thatifthepotatowaseateninlargequantitiestheirwouldbeacholesterolgainedinyourblood
andtheB12vitaminhelpsfightlargeamountoffatinyourbodilysystems.Thiswouldmakethe
potatohealthierandhelpyourcholesterolbecontrolled.Thegenethatallowsthecreationofthe
B12vitaminiscalledmethylmalonicaciduriaandhomocystinuriatypeCproteinmore
commonlyknownasMMACHC.ThisgenewouldallowustomakeCyanocobalaminwhichisa
formoftheB12vitamin.

Citations:
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/challengingevolutionhowgmoscaninfluencegeneticdi
versity/

VirtualMentorandCredentials:
EivindAlmaas,Professor,DirectorofCenTroN
eivind.almaas@ntnu.no
Hasworkedwithoron:DNA,genesandproteins,microorganisms,biotechnology,syntheticbiology

MagnusSteigedal,DirectorStrategicAreaandResearcher
magnus.steigedal@ntnu.no
Hasworkedwithoron:tuberculosis,microbiology,biotechnology

ThorstenHamann,AssociateProfessor
thorsten.hamann@ntnu.no
Hasworkedwithoron:biofuelsandbioenergy,plants,flowersandtrees,biotechnology,genes/DNA,
molecularbiology

AtleM.Bones,Professor
atle.m.bones@ntnu.no

Hasworkedwithoron:biotechnology,marinebiotechnology,plantbiotechnology,geneticallymodified
organisms,naturalfabric/plantmedicines

GailBornhorst,AssistantProfessor
DepartmentofBiologicalandAgriculturalEngineering
3056BainerHall
UniversityofCalifornia
Davis,CA95616

Email:
gbornhorst@ucdavis.edu
Phone:(530)7529329

DestinyDavisandjennagallegos
jegallegos@ucdavis.edu

desdavis@ucdavis.edu

http://agbiosafety.unl.edu/education/summary.htm
:

Step1:DNAExtraction

ofaseriesoffivesteps.

Theprocessofgeneticengineeringrequiresthesuccessfulcompletion

DNAextractionisthefirststepinthegeneticengineeringprocess.Inordertowork
withDNA,scientistsmustextractitfromthedesiredorganism.Asampleofan
organismcontainingthegeneofinterestistakenthroughaseriesofstepstoremove
theDNA.
Step2:GeneCloning

Thesecondstepofthegeneticengineeringprocessisgenecloning.

DuringDNAextraction,alloftheDNAfromtheorganismisextractedatonce.Scientistsuse
genecloningtoseparatethesinglegeneofinterestfromtherestofthegenesextractedand
makethousandsofcopiesofit.

Step3:GeneDesign

Onceagenehasbeencloned,geneticengineersbeginthe

thirdstep,designingthegenetoworkonceinsideadifferentorganism.Thisisdoneinatest
tubebycuttingthegeneapartwithenzymesandreplacinggeneregionsthathavebeen
separated

Step4:Transformation
Themodifiedgeneisnowreadyforthefourthstepintheprocess,transformationorgene
insertion.

Sinceplantshavemillionsofcells,itwouldbeimpossibletoinsertacopyofthe
transgeneintoeverycell.Therefore,tissuecultureisusedtopropagatemassesof
undifferentiatedplantcellscalledcallus.Thesearethecellstowhichthenew
transgenewillbeadded.
Thenewgeneisinsertedintosomeofthecellsusingvarioustechniques.Someofthe
morecommonmethodsincludethegenegun,agrobacterium,microfibers,and
electroporation.Themaingoalofeachofthesemethodsistotransportthenew
gene(s)anddeliverthemintothenucleusofacellwithoutkillingit.Transformedplant

cellsarethenregeneratedintotransgenicplants.
The
transgenicplantsaregrowntomaturityingreenhousesandtheseedtheyproduce,
whichhasinheritedthetransgene,iscollected.Thegeneticengineer'sjobisnow
complete.He/shewillhandthetransgenicseedsovertoaplantbreederwhois
responsibleforthefinalstep.
Step5:BackcrossBreeding

Thefifthandfinalpartofproducingageneticallyengineeredcropisbackcross

breeding.Transgenicplantsarecrossedwithelitebreedinglinesusingtraditionalplantbreeding
methodstocombinethedesiredtraitsofeliteparentsandthetransgeneintoasingleline.The
offspringarerepeatedlycrossedbacktotheelitelinetoobtainahighyieldingtransgenicline.
Theresultwillbeaplantwithayieldpotentialclosetocurrenthybridsthatexpressesthetrait
encodedbythenewtransgene.
TheProcessofPlantGeneticEngineering
Theentiregeneticengineeringprocessisbasicallythesameforanyplant.Thelengthoftime
requiredtocompleteallfivestepsfromstarttofinishvariesdependinguponthegene,crop
species,availableresourcesandregulatoryapproval.Itcantakeanywherefrom615+years
beforeanewtransgenichybridisreadyforreleasetobegrowninproductionfields.