Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Gurdur · 01-16-2003, 03:23 PM

Quote:

from this news report:

Edible bananas may disappear within a decade if urgent action is not taken to develop new varieties resistant to blight.
A Belgian scientist leading research into the fruit loved by millions, and a staple for much of the world's poor, has warned that diseases and pests are steadily encroaching upon crops.

The problem is that the banana we eat is a seedless, sterile article which could slip the way of its predecessor which was wiped out by blight half a century ago.
.....
The Cavendish banana now being eaten across the globe lacks genetic diversity, he argues in an article in New Scientist magazine, and its survival is threatened by:

Panama disease, caused by a soil fungus, which wiped out the Gros Michel variety in the 1950s
Black Sigatoka, another fungal disease which has reached global epidemic proportions
Pests invading plantations and farms in central America, Africa and Asia alike.

New Scientist compared the current threat to bananas to the potato blight which caused the devastating Irish famine of the 1840s.
.....Fungicides are proving increasingly ineffective against the diseases, and black Sigatoka especially.

Buddrow_Wilson · 01-16-2003, 03:25 PM

Blight could possibly ruin the economic feasability of banana plantations, but I don't see how they could disappear entirely from the face of the earth. Hell, we'll clone the damn things if we have to!

pz · 01-16-2003, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Buddrow_Wilson
Blight could possibly ruin the economic feasability of banana plantations, but I don't see how they could disappear entirely from the face of the earth. Hell, we'll clone the damn things if we have to!

Uh, you are aware that all of the bananas we import are currently produced by cloning them, aren't you? That's precisely the problem with them.

Doubting Didymus · 01-16-2003, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pz
Uh, you are aware that all of the bananas we import are currently produced by cloning them, aren't you? That's precisely the problem with them.

Cloned? How?

And more importantly, why?

Gurdur · 01-16-2003, 03:37 PM

It should be noted that this situation is not without historical parallel.

Quote:

from here

In 1865, the vineyards in the Valley of the Rhone began dying and each year the disease spread further. ...

However, Planchon examined the swollen areas of the root more carefully. Using a lens, he was able to observed that there were insects, specifically a species of aphid, that had invaded the roots. He also found eggs and adult females. The aphid was later identified as a new species of Phylloxera, which was named Phylloxera vastatrix......

The Phylloxera eventually spread throughout France and later to every wine making country in Europe. By 1885, it had also reached Algeria and Australia. In France, by 1875, it was causing a loss of about fifty million pounds sterling per year to the wine industry and approximately two and a half million acres of vines were affected.
.....

The answer came from Charles Riley, at that time, an entomologist for the state of Missouri.
......
What Riley suggested was for the French vineyards to use American root stocks that have become adapted to the Phylloxera and graft them onto French grape plant. Some growers were convinced by Riley and began importing root stocks from America......

Gurdur · 01-16-2003, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Doubting Didymus

Cloned? How?

And more importantly, why?

The why was already noted in my OP:

Quote:

...The problem is that the banana we eat is a seedless, sterile article which could slip the way of its predecessor which was wiped out by blight half a century ago.

pz · 01-16-2003, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Doubting Didymus
Cloned? How?

And more importantly, why?

Have you ever taken cuttings from a plant and grown them? That's cloning. For a lot of organisms, this whole "cloning" business is overblown hype.

The bananas we eat are seedless and triploid. These are properties that apparently give the fruit a flavor and texture we find desirable, but which unfortunately leave the plant sterile.

Doubting Didymus · 01-16-2003, 03:55 PM

I thought it might be something like that. Thanky you both for the elaboration.

tronvillain · 01-16-2003, 07:58 PM

I seem to recall reading that this had happened to bananas once before, so there has been an ongoing attempt to breed a replacement type of banana for when the current type gets wiped out.

thebeave · 01-17-2003, 03:50 AM

Oh NO!

What will the sex ed classes use to demonstrate condom use?!

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01-16-2003, 03:25 PM	#2
Buddrow_Wilson Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Arkansas Posts: 1,589	Blight could possibly ruin the economic feasability of banana plantations, but I don't see how they could disappear entirely from the face of the earth. Hell, we'll clone the damn things if we have to!

01-16-2003, 03:55 PM	#8
Doubting Didymus Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: East Coast. Australia. Posts: 5,455	I thought it might be something like that. Thanky you both for the elaboration.

01-16-2003, 07:58 PM	#9
tronvillain Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,658	I seem to recall reading that this had happened to bananas once before, so there has been an ongoing attempt to breed a replacement type of banana for when the current type gets wiped out.

01-17-2003, 03:50 AM	#10
thebeave Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Silicon Valley, CA Posts: 4,183	Oh NO! What will the sex ed classes use to demonstrate condom use?!

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