BASF Wins EC Okay For Transgenic Potato

It took 13 years, but BASF has finally gained approval from the European Commission to sell its Amflora genetically modified potato for cultivation in the European Union. The potato has been altered to produce pure amylopectin starch for use in the paper industry. The most recent hurdle came in 2008 when the commission asked the European Food Safety Authority to review for a second time the use of antibiotic-resistance-marker genes to insert novel traits.