Tech genius Bill Gates is embarking in a completely different venture; the development of more nutritious GMO bananas. The Center for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, led by James Dale, has received $10 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to create an enriched banana that Ugandan farmers will hopefully be growing by 2020.
Even though it looks the same on the outside, this new strain of bananas has an orange flesh due to high vitamin A, whose lack has been linked to weak immune systems and even blindness.
Bill Gates has acknowledged Dale’s work in statement.
“This work is separate from the research that our foundation supports, although some of the same techniques and scientific principles are involved, including transgenic experiments,” said Gates. “Making banana plant less susceptible to diseases is a secondary goal for us. Our primary goal is to help Dale develop new types of banana that are more nutritious; specifically, much richer in vitamin A and iron that the body can absorb.”
