Australia approves the sale of the world's first transgenic banana resistant to a devastating disease

Important advance for the banana industry Professor James Dale of Queenslands University of Technology (QUT) and his team worked on the development and cultivation for more than 20 years. The license granted by the Australian government to the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for the commercialization of QCAV-4, a genetically modified version of the Cavendish banana, the most consumed variety in the world, was defined as a historic milestone. This development promises to be a bulwark against the Panama Disease TR4 caused by the devastating and feared Fusarium fungus, which has put the global banana industry in check, being considered the greatest threat to the production and sustainability of the sector. Regulatory agency Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) also confirmed the suitability of QCAV-4 for human consumption, marking a milestone in food biotechnology. This genetically modified banana, the first of its kind approved for commercial production, represents ...