Regulatory authorities in Australia and New Zealand have granted approval for farmers to cultivate a genetically modified banana that boasts resistance to a widespread and devastating fungal disease.
The official license for the commercial growth of the genetically modified banana was issued by the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator in Australia on February 12. Subsequently, on February 16, Food Standards Australia New Zealand affirmed the modified banana’s safety and nutritional equivalence to traditional bananas. There is a 60-day window for the food ministers of Australia and New Zealand to request a review of the decision; otherwise, the approval will become final.
In the banana’s historical context, the Gros Michel variety was the initial banana widely consumed in Western countries. However, in the 1950s, the emergence of the Fusarium fungus strain, tropical race 1 (TR1), causing Panama disease, led farmers to shift to the more resistant Cavendish banana, despite its reported inferior taste.
Now, with the global spread of another Fusarium strain, TR4, posing a threat to various banana varieties, including the resilient Cavendish, the approval for the genetically modified banana marks a crucial step in addressing this escalating agricultural challenge.