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The Cavendish, the version of the banana that tops most U.S. cereal bowls, is being wiped out by fungus. Banana plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Taiwan have been destroyed by the fungus, which is spreading through much of Southeast Asia, reports Popular Science. Experts say the fungus could wipe out Cavendish bananas worldwide. To save the banana, scientists are trying to genetically alter the Cavendish to make it able to resist the fungus. They are also developing another variety that they hope most consumers would find an acceptable substitute. In any event, this has happened before -- up until the 1960s, Americans ate Gros Michel bananas, a banana that was larger and considered tastier than the Cavendish. That variety got killed by a fungus. Bananas are the most popular U.S. fruit -- the average American consumes 26.2 pounds of bananas a year, reported the New York Times Sunday. All rights reserved. Copyright 2005 by United Press International. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by United Press International. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of by United Press International. Related Links TerraDaily Search TerraDaily Subscribe To TerraDaily Express 
Complete Sequence Of Rice Genome Announced
Piscataway NJ (SPX) Aug 11, 2005The journal Nature in a featured article today proclaimed the completion of the rice genome by the Plant Genome Initiative at Rutgers (PGIR) and other members of an international consortium. |
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