Bananas continue to be a target plant for breeding using new technologies.
The latest is a development that eliminates banana streak virus disease from the plant as well as preventing reinfection, using various gene editing options. This disease is a major problem in parts of west Africa.
Read the full story here - https://www.newscientist.com/article/2192461-virus-lurking-inside-banana-genome-has-been-destroyed-with-crispr/
Developments like this continue to be implemented and offer significant potential for food crops especially in areas where some crops are staple foods.......and lowered production can be devasting to the local population.
Yes, there are some scientific and policy issues to be considered but there seems to be a better understanding that maybe these approaches with genetic engineering [as a broad approach] offer a real way forward in better plant production.
We are likely to see expanded use of the CRISPR gene technology across many crops or even less well developed or unexploited species to develop newer varieties for modern agriculture and improve overall crop productivity.
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