Bananas are among Switzerland's favorite fruits: 79 million kilograms were sold in the country in 2025, as reported by NZZ. However, about one third ends up as waste – partly because the fruit quickly turns brown and unappealing.

Researchers at Tropic used gene editing to turn off the specific genes responsible for browning. The result: the banana stays yellow for several days even when sliced – a direct contribution to fighting food waste. In England, it is now officially recognized as "precision bred" and can enter the market. The difference from classic genetic engineering: no foreign DNA remains in the plant's genome.

Fungal Diseases Threaten Banana Plantations

Preventing food waste is a noble goal. Another threat is even more severe: a fungus known as Tropical Race 4 (TR4) has been spreading through the world's banana plantations since the 1990s. It attacks through the roots, killing the plant within months. There is currently no effective remedy against this source of food loss.

History has seen this before. For a long time, the Gros Michel variety – known as "Big Mike" – was the world's standard banana. Then an earlier strain of the fungus devastated plantations. By around 1960, it was over. Salvation arrived with the Cavendish, which was immune to the pathogen at the time. It remains the standard supermarket banana today.

Vulnerability of Cloned Cavendish Plants to Plant Diseases

Now, however, the Cavendish is also in danger. Its problem: it cannot be bred using traditional methods. The Cavendish is seedless, rendering it sterile. It is propagated exclusively through cuttings. Consequently, all Cavendish plants worldwide are genetically identical clones – and all equally susceptible to TR4.

This is where gene editing plays a crucial role. Using CRISPR, resistance genes from wild banana species can be introduced directly into the Cavendish. Australian researchers have already demonstrated that this approach works. Dutch plant pathologist Gert Kema, formerly of Wageningen University, also sees gene editing as a vital tool to accelerate the development of robust successor varieties. He considers the biggest obstacle to be consumer skepticism rather than laboratory science.

The EU Acts, Switzerland Sleeps

Why new breeding methods are so essential is explained by Carl-Stephan Schäfer, Managing Director of the German Plant Breeders' Association (BDP), in a guest article in Agrarzeitung. It often takes many years from the initial crossbreed to a finished variety. What is decided in breeding gardens today dictates which varieties will be available to farmers in ten or twenty years. New breeding techniques allow plants to be made more resilient to pests and diseases. According to Schäfer, the groundwork must be laid now.

Especially in times of climate change and declining yields, new breeding technologies can revolutionize food security. The EU has recognized this potential as well. The European Parliament recently made history by clearing the way for precision plant breeding whose results are indistinguishable from conventionally bred plants (referred to as NGT-1). The goal: more resilient crops capable of withstanding heat and disease – without inserting foreign DNA.

And Switzerland? It remains dormant. To date, no genome-edited food product has received regulatory approval in the country. While precision-bred bananas are already on supermarket shelves in the US and England follows suit, Switzerland risks falling behind.

Tags: Banana · CRISPR/Cas · Gene editing · Precision breeding · Cavendish · Tropical Race 4 · Food waste · Genetic engineering