GMO organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. Organisms that have been genetically modified include microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast, insects, plants, fish, and mammals. GMOs are the source of genetically modified foods , and are also widely used in scientific research and to produce goods other than food.

The term GMO is very close to the technical legal term , ‘living modified organism’ defined in the Cartagena protocol on Biotech Materials which regulates international trade in living GMOs.An example are potatoes The New Leaf potato, brought to market by Monsanto in the late 1 990s, was developed for the fast food market, but was withdrawn from the market in 2001 after fast food retailers did not pick it up and food processors ran into export problems. There are currently no transgenic potatoes marketed for human consumption.

In October 201 1 BASF requested cultivation and marketing approval as a feed and food from the EFSA for its Fortuna otato, which was made resistant to late blight by adding two resistance genes, blbl and blb2, which originate from the Mexican wild potato Solanum bulbocastanum.However in February 2013 BASF withdrew its application. In May 2013, the J. R Simplot Company sought USDA approval for their “Innate” potatoes, which contain 10 genetic modifications that prevent bruising and produce less acrylamide when fried than conventional potatoes; the inserted genetic material comes from cultivated or wild potatoes, and leads to RNA interference, which prevents certain proteins from being formed pros & Cons