Bananas Could Go Extinct

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Bananas worldwide are being threatened by a deadly disease. PS Prometheus/Shutterstock

Bananas are the most popular fruit in the world, but they could soon be killed off by a deadly fungus. In the last few years, a banana-killing disease has spread from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, Africa and Australia.

According to a new study, published in PLOS Pathogens, the perpetrator is called Tropical Race 4 (TR4), which originated in Indonesia in the 1960s and has now spread so widely that it’s threatening the world banana production.