Dive Brief:
- A batch of "super bananas" are heading to the United States, where researchers will measure how well they boost Vitamin A levels in humans.
- The fruit was developed by researchers at Australia's Queensland University of Technology, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and grown in Uganda.
- Researchers hope the fruit can vastly improve the health of children in Africa, where low levels of Vitamin A in the diet creates life-threatening health problems.
Dive Insight:
Nearly 700,000 children die each year from Vitamin A deficiency. Another 300,000 go blind.
This sort of thing, creating new, healthier foods that can save lives, has always been the promise of genetically modified foods.
Research like this can show us again just how amazing -- and important -- genetically modified foods can be.