The EU has approved it's first GE crop for farming in 12 years. Approval of the Amflora potato has taken seven years due to it's controversial use of an antiobiotic resistant marker gene that could resist antibiotics currently used to fight illnesses like tuberculosis. The potato has been approved for industrial uses and as animal feed.

Amflora contains a gene that produces an enzyme which generally confers resistance to several antibiotics, including kanamycin, neomycin, butirosin, and gentamicin. The European Medicines Authority (EMA) has warned that resistance to these drugs is part of the explanation for the resurgence of TB, which infects eight million people worldwide every year.

As well as the alarming health implications of the decision, the EC's approval of the first GE crop for cultivation in 12 years indicates an unfavourable shift in the politics of GE in the EU. The new UK government has increased its open support for GE. The government also has clear, unethical links to the biotech industry, with the current Environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, formerly employed as Director of a biotech lobbying company.