Professor James Dale, a leading geneticist at Queensland University of Technology, shares insights on genetically modified bananas designed to fight Panama disease. Fernando Garcia Bastidas, head of the Yellow Whey Banana Breeding Program, discusses traditional breeding methods and their role in developing resistant banana varieties. BBC journalist Dan Saladino highlights the biodiversity of over 1,500 banana types, stressing the risks of monoculture. Together, they emphasize the urgent need for innovative solutions to safeguard this essential fruit against extinction.
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insights INSIGHT
Banana Extinction Threat
The Cavendish banana, the world's most exported variety, is in danger of extinction due to Panama disease (TR4).
This aggressive fungal disease is invading key banana production areas.
question_answer ANECDOTE
GM Banana
James Dale created a genetically modified Cavendish banana resistant to TR4.
This GM banana looks and tastes the same as regular Cavendish, according to taste tests.
insights INSIGHT
Inactive Gene
The Cavendish banana already possesses the resistance gene against TR4, but it's inactive.
Dale's team activated this gene by transferring a working version from a wild banana.
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In 'Eating to Extinction,' Dan Saladino explores the world's vanishing foods, documenting his travels to experience and preserve these endangered culinary treasures. The book delves into the consequences of globalization and industrialization on food systems, noting that only a few crops and breeds dominate global food production. Saladino argues that this homogenization threatens not only traditional foodways but also the flavors, smells, and textures associated with diverse foods. He profiles heroic individuals dedicated to preserving these foods and provides a roadmap to a healthier, more robust, and flavorful food system. The book is a mix of culinary exploration and a warning about the future of food production in the face of climate change, pests, and parasites[1][3][5].
Bananas are the world's most popular and most consumed fruit. They are also one of the most important agricultural commodities and food staples for hundreds of millions of people around the world.
The fruit is also in danger of going extinct.
The Panama Disease or TR-4 is threatening the most widely exported variety of the banana, the Cavendish. It makes up 99 percent of global banana exports, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. But it's vulnerable to an aggressive fungal disease that is invading areas where most of the banana supply is produced.
And it's happened before. Until the 1950s, consumers were eating a different variety of banana before it succumbed to an invading fungal disease. Now scientists are racing against the clock to save the banana – again.
We discuss what's being done to save the world's favorite fruit.
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