Bananas that don’t brown within minutes? Gene editing makes that possible
Hannah Devlin | Guardian | April 3, 2025
“Food waste is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. It’s very bad, clearly,” said Gilad Gershon, the chief executive of Tropic. “Bananas are the fourth biggest crop globally, but also one where the perishability is very high. Some estimates say that 50% of the bananas grown are never eaten.”
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The company worked out how to disable a gene responsible for the production of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, which causes browning. The same gene is silenced in Arctic apples, a genetically modified variety, which has been sold in the US since 2017, and blocking the production of polyphenol oxidase has been shown to work in tomatoes, melon, kiwifruits and mushrooms. In the bananas, Tropic made precise changes to existing genes without introducing foreign genetic material.
The company already has the go-ahead to sell the non-browning bananas, which are yet to be given a name, in the Philippines, Colombia, Honduras, the US and Canada.