Endangered bananas

I had no idea that most bananas sold in the UK were mainly from one variety - the 'Cavendish' [sounds VERY aristocratic though!]. However, this fact opens bananas up to attack from a nasty fungus called Sigatoka, which could wipe out whole plantations of bananas in places like Latin America. Scientists are trying to find wild varieties which they can cross with the Cavendish, but wild banana species are being eliminated at a massive rate by deforestation. Will bananas return to being a luxury food item in the UK? Perhaps so, if they continue to rely on one strain of plant, and don't widen the gene pool somehow.

Banana drama