Lancashire Evening Telegraph

Fighting Famine In The Far East

A Bolton scientist has pioneered a way to stop thousands of people starving from famine -- with a genetically modified radish.

Dr Ian Curtis, whose family lives in Breightmet, has been working on the radish project at the Pohang University of Science and Technology in Korea since May 1999 where he was made an Assistant Professor at the young age of 32.

Scientists in Korea had been trying to genetically engineer the radish plant for 20 years as it is a staple crop in the country and is as widely eaten as the potato in this country.

A pest attacked the Korean radish crops in 1997 which caused mass famine and the need to develop a disease resistant strain of the crop was even greater.

Dr Curtis, aged 34, modified previous attempts to grow the radish and after a number of attempts successfully inserted genes into the plant which will allow them to survive attacks from the pest called "erwina."

Extensive trials still need to be completed before the new "super radish" can be mass produced, but Dr Curtis believes that his work will help to feed millions of Koreans within the next decade.

The former Sharples School pupil developed a passion for growing vegetables when he was a youngster and won several agricultural shows all over the North West before achieving his first degree in Agricultural Botany at the University College of Wales.

He considers himself a "scientist with a heart" and would love to continue working with GM crops to help developing countries where there is a desperate need to mass produce disease resistant crops.

His research paper on the radish will be published in the British journal "Transgenic Research" in April and The Tribune newspaper in Washington DC has also expressed an interest in his work.

Dr Curtis said: "I am proud of the fact that my work will make a difference to people's lives.

"I can understand why people are mistrustful of GM crops, but they are safe providing the right sort of genes are used.

"But the general public should be made aware of whether the food they are eating is genetically modified or not."