http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030115/sc_nm/food_banana_dc_1
Bananas'
Days May Be Numbered, Scientist Says
Wed Jan 15, 2003, 3:34 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) -
It is one of the world's favorite fruits,
but the banana hasn't had sex in years and its days may be are
numbered.
Without scientific
help the sterile, seedless fruit could disappear
with 10 years, according to a Belgian plant pathologist.
Emile Frison, the head
of the International Network for the
Improvement of Banana and Plantain in Monpellier, France,
said the fruit lacks the genetic diversity to fight off diseases
and pests that are plaguing banana plantations and only biotechnology
and genetic manipulation may be able to save it.
"Frison sees it
as the only hope for the banana," New Scientist
said on Wednesday.
Without assistance
banana production could drop and mark the
beginning of the end of the fruit.
"We may even see
the extinction of the banana as both a lifesaver
for hungry and impoverished Africans and as the most popular
product on the world's supermarket shelves," the magazine
added.
