GM potato "Elisabeth" developed by Russian scientists and containing a Monsanto Bt-gene has been approved for human consumption after safety assessment of the Russian Institute of nutrition. As "Elisabeth" is not approved for cultivation anywhere in the world, this step is seen as a first move to approve the potato as the first GMO for cultivation in Russia, according to Victoria Kopeykina, secretary of CIS Alliance forBiosafety.</p><p><a href="http://www.gene.ch/genet/2006/May/msg00004.html">GENET: First "Russian" transgenic potato approved in Russia as food source</a>