BOISE - Inside tucked-away labs in this town built by french fries, teams of scientists are splicing potato genes, working daily to perfect Idaho's top cash crop with modern biotechnology. At J.R. Simplot, biologists hope to create the first genetically modified potato, designing a spud that's tastier and resistant to unsightly bruises and sprouts.

What's more, the potato's revamped gene structure rebuffs acrylamides, potentially dangerous chemicals that studies suggest bond with sugars in fried potatoes.

Company officials stress that the new potato, a genetically modified Russet Ranger, is in a preliminary research stage. It will be five to 10 years before Simplot markets a genetically enhanced potato that could supplant unmodified Russet Burbanks, the variety sold by the billion to fast-food restaurants across the world.

"It's five years down the road and only if consumers really want it," said Caius Rommens, Simplot's lead biologist on the project. "But this could be the first. It's a breakthrough - the first time genetic modification ever enhanced flavor."

Even when the new Russet Ranger is perfected, it may not be a potato panacea. Consumers are skittish about genetically modified foods. Fast food products, already under intense scrutiny from health groups and government regulators, may not withstand a public outcry against so-called "Frankenfoods."

There are more than 50,000 genes in a potato...

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/genetics/2007-01-08-better-potatoes_x.htm