The banana is the world’s most popular fruit—yet it could very soon go missing from our store shelves due to disease. In today’s episode of the I am BIO Podcast, we look at what the banana tells us about our food systems—and the role biotech can play in making them more resilient, sustainable, and accessible.
The bananas we eat today are not the same bananas our great grandparents ate—because that banana, the Gros Michel, was wiped out by disease.
The Cavendish bananas we eat today are now facing the same threat—which has been increasing over the last few years in Latin America, the source of nearly all imported bananas in the U.S. and Europe.
“The plight of the banana should be viewed as a warning sign,” says BIO’s Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath—especially since no other banana variety has had the predictable growing and ripening pattern, taste, and strength for easy transport.
Genetic engineering could help—by improving disease resistance, explains Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World.
Biotech can also improve pesticides. 40% of crop yields use some form of crop protection (pesticides)—but many are being pulled from the market or don’t control pests like they used to. Vestaron is creating biopesticides with the same efficacy as those made with synthetic chemicals—and are safe for bees and animals and don’t leave residue in soil or watersheds.
Transparency and education are key to making these solutions a reality. “It’s important for people to understand what science actually does,” and we need to explain the methods and the benefits, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during BIO Digital.
But we need to act quickly. Hunger and poverty continue to increase worldwide—and the banana is just one food that’s under threat. Biotechnology has to be part of the conversation.
Listen to the whole thing.
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