num_pages: 281
description: A gripping biological detective story that uncovers the myth mystery and endangered fate of the world's most humble fruit To most people a banana is a banana: a simple yellow fruit. Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In others parts of the world bananas are what keep millions of people alive. But for all its ubiquity the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas evolved or exactly where they originated. Rich cultural lore surrounds the fruit: In ancient translations of the Bible the 'apple' consumed by Eve is actually a banana (it makes sense doesn't it?). Entire Central American nations have been said to rise and fall over the banana. But the biggest mystery about the banana today is whether it will survive. A seedless fruit with a unique reproductive system every banana is a genetic duplicate of the next and therefore susceptible to the same blights. Today's yellow banana the Cavendish is increasingly threatened by such a blight -- and there's no cure in sight. Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist) -- ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.
language: English
title: Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
publisher: Hudson Street Press