Bananas on the Brink of Extinction Due to Fungus Outbreak

Scientists have warned that the most popular type of banana could be on the brink of extinction due to a disease outbreak that’s ravaging the common food staple.

The variety called Cavendish bananas, which is reportedly the variation that makes up 47% of the bananas humans eat, is under threat from a disease called Panama Disease (Fusarium wilt) tropical race 4, which is caused by a fungus infection, as reported by Insider.

The infection starts in the roots before spreading throughout the banana tree and inhibiting its ability to go through photosynthesis and other necessary processes, leading to the plant’s death.

“Nobody is even close to solving the problem,” Dan Koeppel, author of the book “Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World,” told Business Insider.

Tropical Race 4, aka TR4, was first found in Taiwan in 1989, and has now spread to Australia, then India and China, the world’s largest banana producers, as well as the Middle East and Africa.

James Dale, a professor and leader of the banana biotechnology program at Queensland University of Technology, has stated the disease is now in South America.

“The disease moves slowly, so we have at least a decade before the impact is drastic,” Dale said.

“I would say with certainty that there will be a solution before the export market for Cavendish is severely affected.”

Some scientists in Taiwan are experimenting with exposing Cavendish seedlings to TR4 to make them resistant, like a banana vaccine.