The Admiral

Oscar Mayer weiners, what else?

The Admiral

mecca777

Yeah, 'cause that won't be awkward for the boys. "We just slip this on over- oops, it's gone a bit floppy, hang on a second... so you push the condom over... hang on... oops... okay, put that in the bin, get another one..."

Wyz_sub10

Flashbacks of my teen years.

If I taught sex ed, I'd find a massive cucumber to use. Then when the students looked all shocked and bewildered, I'd just play dumb and say, "What? Isn't this about right??"

Back to the OP...

tronvillain...did you happen to have a link re: the earlier banana crisis? I'd be interested to read the comments and concerns at that time.

simian

So are there other varieties of banana available to replace these? Or is this an across the board problem? If there are no "replacement" varieties available, is somebody looking at genetically modifying the current bananas to make the able to resist the fungus (or whatever else is killing them)?

Or is there little/no interest because the rich countries can always afford the bananas that still exist, and the poor could never fund the research?

Simian

simian

D'oh, I don't seem to be able to edit the message above.

At any rate, I should read the posted article before posting myself - some of the questions are somewhat answered. Not to any great degree, but to some. Anybody have more detailed to the questions I did ask?

Simian

Gurdur

Wild banana types, but they're inedible.
It would require a huge breeding/crossing program, and would take a good few many years.

It's an "across-the-board" problem with all edible bananas --- and it's a very serious problem;

To you, bananas may only be a luxury;

To millions of Africans, Asians and Australoindonesians, they're a vital staple food crop.
If the edible banana gets wiped out, what the hell will those people use to replace it as a staple food ?
Bananas are not only good in themselves as basic foodstuffs, they contain vitamins; any good replacement will be difficult, very difficult.

Yes, but there are issues associated with that --- escape of GM genetic information into the wild, for one.

I didn't think of this one, and it's a good point.
I do not want to jump to conclusions or make wild accusations, but take the case of malaria as an example --- pharmaceutical companies spend very little indeed on reserach into malaria and treatment for it, because it's "only" a disease which kills poor Southern-Hemisphere people --- the fact it kills millions each and every year is of no interest, since the pharma companies see little chance of big profits.
They prefer the cash-cows like Viagra.

simian

In response to my question about genetic engineering of bananas:

The characteristic that makes creating resistant bananas difficult to breed (the fact that they don't breed) would seem to me to be a very effective deterent to the genes "escaping" into the wild. No sexual reproduction -> no way for the genes to escape their species. (Not quite true, but the odds of the gene-exchanging bacteria successfully taking the genes from the banana and successfully putting it into another plant seem extremely remote to me)

Of course, the difficulty of exporting technology that is "considered too dangerous for the developed world to use" would be huge.

And I certainly do realize that bananas and plantains are a very significant food source for parts of the world. This is a rather serious food threat.

If something like this ever hits rice, wheat, or corn, the impact will be much more noticable to the developed world.

(not sure if "developed world" is the correct phrase to use - I HATE "1st World")

Simian

Gurdur

It happens in the wild already. See why peas have haemoglobin-like compunds in their roots (I'm expressing it badly, but still).

Heh, heh, HEH.

See the novel by John Christopher, The Death Of Grass, wherein Christopher starts off with a newly mutated virus that first hits rice, then rye, barley, wheat and all other grass species..... and goes onto to have the Prime Minister of Britain seriously considering nuking London, Manchester and other large UK cities in order to reduce the population down to a viable number....

It's not a book for the faint-hearted.

Darth Dane

How can a plant be seedless?

How did it evolve?

Von Dänichen believes that it was E.t´s, discounting that, what do you think about this problem, and is it the same conundrum with the chicken and egg?






DD - Seedless Spliff

pz

Please. Von Daniken is an idiot.

Most plants, like the majority of organisms on the planet, can reproduce asexually. Seedlessness is not a problem.

Don't be confused by our default metazoan bias. We 're the odd ones here.