Ugandan Scientists Grow GM Banana as Disease Threatens Country's Staple Food

The devastating bacterial disease of banana – the Xanthomonas wilt or BXW is hoped to be eradicated through the research of local Ugandan scientists at the National Banana Research Program. The disease which was initially identified in Ethiopia in 1960 has spread rapidly in its neighboring countries in Africa. Uganda has been vulnerable because of its large scale banana plantation.

Wilberforce Tushemereirwe and his collegues added a gene from sweet pepper to bananas that would make it resistant to the disease. Six out of eight banana lines showed 100% resistance to the disease in preliminary contained experiments. Field experiments in confined areas within the research campus have already started. Results from the trial which will be available at the end of this year will have a strong bearing on the country's policy on GM agriculture.

The original news can be viewed at  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/09/gm-banana-crop-disease-uganda.