Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Banana to be Sequenced

Posted by chrisd on from the banana-split-will-be-sequenced-later dept.

GodsMadClown writes "New Scientist reports that a global consortium plans to sequence the genetic code of a wild banana from east Asia. Because bananas are triploidal instead of diploidal, they are only able to reproduce asexually, which means that it adapts slower than organisms reproducing sexually. 'One rule of joining the consortium is that any invention developed through the project and protected [by patent] will be made available to smallholders through a royalty-free license,' says Emile Frison, director of the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain."

2 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Licensing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Royalty-free, sure. But what about the up-front fee? Oh, prohibitive? Thank you.

  2. I'm confused by hdparm · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Because bananas are triploidal instead of diploidal, they are only able to reproduce asexually, which means that it adapts slower than organisms reproducing sexually.

    Is there any other plant in the world that reproduces sexually?