"Arctic Apple"

[chickchoc]

http://news.yahoo.com/gene-silencing-arctic-apple-op-ed-150109029.html

According to the article the Arctic apple is a genetically engineered apple that doesn't brown when bruised or cut.  The developers hope to attract sliced-apple sellers in the food industry as well as consumers who don't want to use lemon juice on cut apples.   The genetic engineering used RNA manipulation to silence enzyme activity responsible for the well-known browning.  The problem?  There are many closely-related genes that this manipulation effects, some of which are responsible for pest resistance.  This means that the Arctic apple may require more pest controlling chemicals to produce like a "natural" apple and this susceptibility may be passed on to other apples through cross pollination.

Do we really need more genetic engineering?  Have these folks never heard of the Law of Unintended Consequences?  Apparently the USDA hasn't.

The stunning inadequacy of the Arctic apple risk assessment is largely the USDA's fault. The agency just accepted what the company gave it and did not require specific information on the risks of gene silencing.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which offers voluntary food safety reviews of genetically engineered foods, also has yet to publish its approach to the evaluation of gene-silencing risks.

One more thing to add to an already muddy agricultural product gene pool, I guess.

[David in MN]

Rats, I assumed I'd get another cold hardy apple from the title...

[Cedar]

Capitol Press had an article out about it awhile back ago. I think I posted it here somewhere.


If you TRUELY want an Artic apple, .. get Fameuse (Snow apple). A very hardy apple variety. Also known as the Snow Apple of Quebec in 1739, from plantings in early French settlements in Quebec. One of the oldest and most desirable dessert apples, a parent of the aromatic McIntosh. Flesh is tender, spicy, distinctive in flavor, and snow white in color with occasional crimson stains near the skin. Very hardy, heavy bearing tree that is excellent for home orchards. Delicious fresh off the tree, in cider, or in culinary creations.

I grafted one of these up this spring.

Cedar

[nelson96]

I grafted one of these up this spring.

Cedar

I want one.

[Cedar]

I want one.

You know the drill.. bring rootstocks..

Cedar

[nelson96]

You know the drill.. bring rootstocks..

Cedar

Ohhhh yea.

[David in MN]

Capitol Press had an article out about it awhile back ago. I think I posted it here somewhere.


If you TRUELY want an Artic apple, .. get Fameuse

Cedar

Added to the list. So many plants, so little yard!