Today, much of the world’s population has tasted only the Cavendish banana, a hardy species consumed by the billions each year. In the 1950s, a deadly strain of Panama disease tore through Central and South America, almost completely destroying banana plantations ripe with the world’s banana of choice: the Gros Michel.
▲ Most of the world has tasted only the Cavendish banana (left). Although it is less sweet than the Gros Michel banana (right), it is more resistant to Panama disease. Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are combating drought and disease in plants with nanoparticles loaded with disease-fighting DNA.
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