Bananapocalypse!

In this episode, Biologists Being Basic (B3) hosts Joe, Kelsey and Robyn are joined by our friend Sean to discuss Fusarium wilt, a fungus that threatens bananas as we know them. Listen as we explore the history of this pathogen and its relationship with the yellow tropical fruit that US residents love to eat. Further Resources: If you want to learn more about bananas and their history, check out Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World, by Dan Koeppel (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/299017/banana-by-dan-koeppel/). For more technical peer-reviewed articles on TR4 resistant Cavendish strains, we recommend the following: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01670-6 and https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197 For news articles that covered the primary research, check out: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/devastating-banana-disease-may-have-reached-latin-america-could-drive-global-prices https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/gm-banana-shows-promise-against-deadly-fungus-strain https://www.wired.com/story/fungus-could-wipe-out-banana-forever/ https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/08/16/751499719/devastating-banana-fungus-arrives-in-colombia-threatening-the-fruits-future https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49331286 If you have any questions or comments you can email us at biologistsbeingbasic@gmail.com or find us on twitter or instagram (@biosbeingbasic).