Researchers in Israel reveal that several lines of genetically engineered bananas are more tolerant to the fungal disease black Sigatoka. This is interesting for lots of reasons. The variety they engineered, Cavendish, is practically the only variety in international trade (more’s the pity) so one could argue that this effort is protecting only those bananas enjoyed by relatively affluent consumers. It will not do much, other than as a proof of principle, for the hundreds of millions of people who depend on scores of banana and plantain varieties as a staple crop. Black Sigatoka is a menace, one of the reasons why conventionally-grown bananas receive more chemical fungicides than any other crop. But it could be argued that another disease, Panama disease Race 4, is currently a greater threat. It was Panama disease that wiped out the previous export banana, Gros Michel. And while there are fungicides against black Sigatoka, there are none effective against Panama disease.
But the thing I personally find most interesting about this research is my anticipation of the objections to it. None of the standard “scientific” objections can possibly apply, aside from possible effects on human health, which I imagine will be reasonably easy to test. I can’t wait.
