Biology
Every banana is the same banana
Nearly every banana sold for export is a Cavendish, a single seedless variety grown from cuttings, so the plants are genetic clones of one another. The Cavendish makes up about 99% of the global export trade. Because they share the same genes, the plant's full genetic blueprint, a disease that kills one plant can kill them all.
Sources & further reading
Frontiers in Plant Science / PMC, National Library of Medicine (NIH)Fusarium Wilt of Banana: Current Knowledge on Epidemiology and Research Needs Toward Sustainable Disease ManagementA review confirming that almost all traded bananas are the Cavendish clone, and why one soil fungus can threaten the whole crop.Encyclopaedia BritannicaGros Michel (banana cultivar)The record that the Gros Michel was the world's banana before the Cavendish, and was wiped from trade by Panama disease.TIMEThe Banana Is One Step Closer to DisappearingA news account of the banana's past collapse and the 2019 arrival of the new strain TR4 in Colombia.Nature Communications (Nature Publishing Group)Transgenic Cavendish bananas with resistance to Fusarium wilt tropical race 4The study showing a Cavendish given a gene from a wild banana resisted TR4 in a real field trial.
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