If you leave a banana out on the counter for too long, it’ll eventually turn brown and mushy. But a company based in the United Kingdom called Tropic has created bananas that stay fresh longer.
To create a non-browning banana, Tropic scientists used CRISPR. This tool can cut and edit an organism’s DNA—the molecule that carries hereditary information. The researchers targeted a gene—a unit of hereditary material—in banana DNA that codes for polyphenol oxidase. This enzyme speeds up chemical reactions that turn fruits brown. By turning off this gene, polyphenol oxidase is no longer produced. The result is a banana that stays firm and yellow for up to 12 hours after it’s been peeled!
Bananas are the world’s most popular fruit. But people throw away billions of them every year because they ripen too quickly. Keep an eye out for Tropic bananas, which will soon be sold in grocery stores across the United States and beyond.