World’s 1st Genetically Modified Banana Sent for Approval

Australian researchers have developed the first genetically modified (GM) banana in the world and now await official approval from food authorities to produce and sell the banana crops on a large scale.

The Cavendish variety of bananas known as QCAV-4 was engineered by scientists at Australia’s Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and is a major step towards protecting the US$20 billion banana industry, which is under serious threat from a fungus known as Panama disease.

The government’s Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) and the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) have commenced an assessment of the bananas to see if they would be safe to grow and consume.

“This is the first whole GM fruit to be assessed by FSANZ. If approved, it would also be a world-first approval for a GM banana,” FSANZ CEO, Sandra Cuthbert, said in a statement.