Outline of the Cause and the Defect

What Really Caused the Potato Famine?

What Happened to the Potato?

In September of 1845, black leaves began to grow on potato plants, and then began to rot. An airborne fungus swept the air due to ships traveling from North America to England. The winds from South England transferred the fungus to Dublin. The plants began to fall off the plants and looked like they were good to eat. Within a few days, they turned dark and rotted. The rot was caused by Phytophthora infestans, which turned the potato into inedible slime.

The severity of the Irish Potato Famine was due to the lack of genetic variation with in the potatoes. Many of the Irish planted “lumper” potatoes. All of the lumpers were cloned. They were genetically identical to another. When the environment changed and a disease swept through, all of the potatoes were affected due to the lack of genetic variation.

The Irish Potato Famine could have been prevented if cloning was not used. If there were more genetic variation in the potatoes grown, some potatoes would have carried the right genes to pass the epidemic and survive. More potatoes could have been grown in the years following the epidemic.