India, Feb. 20 -- The banana, the world's most popular and most consumed fruit, has finally found an edge over its dreaded nemesis, the Panama disease.

Most exported bananas belong to a single variety, the Cavendish. But this lack of genetic variation makes the crop vulnerable. Fusarium wilt - also known as Panama disease - is a destructive soil-borne disease which impacts farmed Cavendish bananas worldwide through its virulent Race 4 strains.

The disease causes the banana plant to wilt and kills it, leaving residue in the soil to infect future crops.

Now, two scientists - Andrew Chen and Elizabeth Aitken - and their team from The University of Queensland in Australia have identified the genomic region that controls resistance to Fusar...