Potatoes have a gene that causes them to rot when damaged. In these new GMO potatoes, this gene is silenced and therefore undetectable. 

The potato will still rot, but no damage will appear and the consumer will not notice. This is not the only change made to these potatoes; they are also modified to produce lower levels of acrylamide when cooked.

The GM potato was engineered with a gene silencing method called RNA interference (RNAi). This genetic engineering technique results in a potato that hides its symptoms rather than preventing blackhead bruising. 

To understand RNA interaction, it is important to know that messenger RNA (mRNA) carries genetic instructions from the cell nucleus to other parts of the cell. RNAi starts when a different type of RNA (dsRNA) is introduced into a cell. dsRNA is broken down by enzymes, pairs with proteins, and then binds to a specific target site where it fits into the mRNA. This can prevent the mRNA from transmitting all of its instructions and effectively "silencing" the desired gene. In the case of potatoes, the gene that is silenced is the gene that causes browning.

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