Thesis subject

The history of the R genes and debates in breeding for Potato Late blight

The understanding of the genome and the application of it has seen revolutionary progress. In the 90’s for example, there was a heated debate on strategies to develop sustainable resistance in potato against late blight: use horizontal or vertical resistance was applied and criticised by different groups cq camps in the CGIAR and f.e. Dutch researchers.

This, among others, led to controversies about use and multiplication of new varieties in a development project in Bolivia. In retrospect, with more knowledge on the genome, we can say that neither of the camps were right.

What can we learn from such historical debates in the light of current contested gene-related technologies?

A (MSc) study of literature and interviews with breeders/experts who played a role in this debate