Emile Frison

"Only GM [genetic modification] can save the banana" is the message of a headline-grabbing story that first surfaced in 2001, made a comeback in 2003, and has done the rounds in the media ever since. The story claims that because bananas are sterile, they can't be bred to avoid virulent banana diseases and so could be extinct within a decade.

According to the story, "The standard variety, the Cavendish, is already threatened with a disease called black Sigatoka, and a new strain of another fungal condition, Panama disease, could wipe the plant out within a decade." The banana business, we are told, is "doomed". "No more fresh bananas. No more banana bread. No more banana muffins or banana cream pie." Worse still, bananas are an important nutritional source for many in the developing world. "Half a billion people in Africa and Asia depend on the banana for up to half their daily calories," say the reports. "Genetic engineering may be the only answer": "Scientists believe that the creation of a GM banana that can resist the diseases may be the only way of preserving the fruit's future."

Each time the "Only GM can save the banana" headline-grabbing story re-emerges, it gets expertly debunked... until the next time comes around. And almost every time, the same scientist is quoted, Dr Emile Frison. Here are some of the headlines Dr Frison has helped to generate:

"Without a genetic fix, the banana may be history" "Bananas 'will slip into extinction without GM" "'Decrepit' banana faces extinction in 10 years" "Yes, we'll have no bananas" "Bananas could split for good" "Defenceless banana 'will be extinct in 10 years'" "GM banana needed to fend off pests" "Bananas are a Dying Breed" "Bananas 'killed off' by 2013 "Banana blight?" "Banana on a slippery slope to extinction" "Bye Bye Banana" "Bananas; an endangered fruit" "Banana R.I.P."

But the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has directly contradicted Dr Frison's claims that bananas are on the verge of extinction, saying that while there are problems of vulnerability to disease, this is aggravated by the widescale commercial use of the Cavendish banana, and this can be countered by promoting greater genetic diversity. The FAO also points out that small-scale farmers around the world grow a wide range of banana species which are mostly less threatened than the Cavendish. There are, in fact, hundreds of different species of banana, and only 10 percent of the bananas produced and consumed globally are from the Cavendish.

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