Fusarium oxysporum, or "Tropical Race 4" fungus causes "Panama disease" by infections the "corm" or underground bulb of the banana tree, and quickly kills the monoculture of Cavendish bananas prevalent worldwide, which itself was developed and promoted in the 1920's to replace the "Gros Michel" variety.
Luckily, so far, this fungus has not yet reached Latin America. But when it does, a genetically modified Cavendish variety may be the only hope to save the 2.2 billion dollar banana industry in the US, unless an alternate banana variety can suit the tastes of the American public.
An update on this story in 2021: Father's are spending millions to prevent this same fungus from spreading to Latin America, the world's largest producers of bananas
There is a genetically modified strain of banana resistant to the fungus, but people aren't buying the idea of GM crops, even though bananas are sterile and can't propagate a genetic modification.
https://youtu.be/nhPEErJnErU
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