The world's most popular banana faces extinction. Researchers are racing to find a solution.

• Researchers person developed a caller disease-resistant banana called Yelloway One.
• Yelloway researchers usage accepted breeding techniques, not familial modification.
• The Yelloway Initiative is trying to amended nan banana market, which is suffering.

The Netherlands whitethorn look for illustration an improbable spot to turn bananas, but it's wherever researchers person precocious created a marque caller assortment called Yelloway One.

The Yelloway One resembles bananas you mightiness spot successful a market store, but it's thing but. It's nan world's first edible banana resistant to 2 diseases that are decimating nan consequence worldwide, and it could alteration really we turn and bargain bananas successful nan future.

In 2020, nan world consequence institution Chiquita collaborated pinch respective different organizations — KeyGene, MusaRadix, and Wageningen University & Research — to motorboat nan Yelloway Initiative, which intends to lick a problem plaguing nan banana industry.

The Cavendish, nan astir widely exported banana and astir apt nan assortment successful your kitchen, is successful trouble. Deadly fungal diseases are attacking nan plants, threatening nan consequence pinch extinction.

Researchers dream nan Yelloway One is nan first measurement to uncovering a tasty banana that tin conflict disconnected these fungi.

"We're not expecting it to beryllium nan accumulation replacement for Cavendish," Peter Stedman, head of sustainability astatine Chiquita, told Business Insider. "But it is impervious that we tin get there, and it's impervious that we are astir there."

Finding nan building blocks of a amended banana

The Yelloway task utilized accepted breeding techniques — not familial modification — to make its caller banana.

The tricky portion pinch that process is that researchers can't simply transverse nan Cavendish pinch much resilient varieties because nan Cavendish is seedless and truthful sterile.

Instead, nan researchers are looking for nan traits successful different banana varieties that lucifer a Cavendish's sensation and hardiness.

To that end, Yelloway is studying nan DNA of 150 banana varieties, to make a benignant of banana family tree, Fernando García-Bastidas, nan caput of nan banana breeding programme astatine KeyGene, told BI.

They utilized accusation astir nan bananas' illness resistance, color, yield, and different characteristics arsenic a benignant of Lego system, García-Bastidas said.

"We are capable to place nan blocks that are required to recreate aliases amended a peculiar banana type," he said.

They're besides utilizing familial study to hunt for Cavendish relatives that they tin transverse pinch Yelloway One.

The Yelloway One is connected way to flower and nutrient bananas, but it's not yet fresh to get successful market stores.

The adjacent measurement is to trial really it fares successful force territory. Researchers will turn Yelloway One successful nan Philippines and Indonesia, wherever TR4 — a fungal illness — has decimated banana plants.

Ensuring history doesn't repetition itself a 3rd time

The Cavendish only became nan world's astir wide eaten banana successful nan 2nd half of nan 20th century. Before that, nan Gros Michel assortment reigned supreme.

But successful nan 1950s, a fungus called TR1 wiped retired nan Gros Michel. The Cavendish, which is resistant to nan disease, became growers' caller go-to fruit.

Now that TR4 is spreading, growers and scientists don't want to make nan aforesaid correction again of relying connected a azygous banana variety.

That's why Yelloway is progressive successful creating different banana varieties, too.

"It's not looking to conscionable amended upon nan Cavendish," Stedman said. "It's trying to create spot and biodiversity."

Li-Jun Ma, a professor of biochemistry astatine nan University of Massachusetts Amherst studying nan banana-killing fungi, agrees we shouldn't trust connected a azygous banana variety.

"We should find ways to heighten nan diverseness successful our market," she told Business Insider.

Ultimately, Yelloway researchers envision a early wherever market stores connection aggregate banana varieties. There will still beryllium a spot for nan Cavendish connected market shelves, but they won't beryllium your only option.