Today 05:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 6 hours ago by C C.)
Have scientists finally found a way to save the banana from disaster?
https://www.theguardian.com/global-devel...m-disaster
EXCERPTS: Love them or loathe them, bananas are one of the world’s most popular fruit. But a combination of the climate crisis and new killer diseases have had growers concerned over the banana’s threatened extinction, something that would impose a huge toll on farmers in countries from Guatemala to Malawi, alongside eradicating a staple food.
Now researchers say they have made fresh advances in the race to save them from disaster. This month, Yelloway – a research collaboration between Chiquita, the world’s largest banana company, and the crop-improvement company KeyGene – announced it had developed a fully fertile Cavendish banana, meaning it may be possible, through cross-breeding, to create new banana varieties that are commercially viable and resistant to disease.
Second only to the tomato in terms of fruit consumption globally, the world grows about 139m tonnes of bananas a year. While there are more than 1,000 varieties, it is the Cavendish that is now found in most fruit bowls, taking over from the Gros Michel cultivar, which fell victim to Panama disease from the 1950s.
[...] Cavendish bananas have three sets of chromosomes, meaning they are typically sterile. “Combined with the ability to set fruit without pollination, this gives us the seedless banana,” said De Vega. There are several different types of Cavendish, including dwarf versions, which have arisen as a result of random mutations in the Cavendish genome.
But in each case new plants are grown from offshoots, so they are virtually genetically identical to the plant from which they came. While this results in uniform fruit, it also means they are vulnerable to the same diseases. Peter Stedman, Chiquita’s sustainability director, said: “We are not trying to preserve Cavendish. We’re trying to replace Cavendish because we believe at the core of any sustainable farming system is biodiversity and genetic diversity.”
Other researchers have taken different approaches. [...] But while it may result in disease-resistant progeny, he noted it could also yield a very different type of fruit.
“Whatever they generate is going to be different to Cavendish,” Dale said, pointing out that crosses could produce a huge range of types but any new variety needed not only to be resistant to disease but also produce high yields and taste good. (MORE - missing details)
Fruits and vegetables outperform medication for treating metabolic acidosis in chronic kidney disease
https://www.asn-online.org/about/press/r...eek202.pdf
PRESS RELEASE: In people with chronic kidney disease (CKD), oral sodium bicarbonate is a standard treatment for metabolic acidosis (too much acid buildup in the body), but results from a recent clinical trial indicate that dietary acid reduction with base producing fruits and vegetables may be a better option. The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2026 October 22–25.
In the trial, 108 adults with stage 3 CKD and metabolic acidosis were randomized to receive fruits and vegetables (to reduce dietary acid by half), oral sodium bicarbonate (also to reduce dietary acid by half), or usual care (36 patients in each group). Participants were followed annually for 10 years.
During follow-up, there were 115 hospitalizations, 166 emergency department visits, and 34 patients needed dialysis. Compared with the usual care group, the fruits and vegetables group had fewer hospitalizations (14 versus 64), fewer emergency department visits (20 versus 88), and less progression to dialysis (4 versus 16). There was no difference between those given sodium bicarbonate compared with usual care regarding these outcomes.
“Treatment of metabolic acidosis with fruits and vegetables was associated with more favorable long-term clinical outcomes and health care utilization than standard treatment with sodium bicarbonate or usual care, without increasing overall health-system or societal costs,” said corresponding author Nimrit Goraya, MD, of Baylor Scott and White Health.
“These findings support evaluating dietary interventions in chronic kidney disease not only at the individual-patient level but also at the population level, where the cumulative clinical and economic benefits may be substantial. They also highlight the potential quality-of-life and health-system value of investing in fruits and vegetables as a treatment strategy, particularly when favorable clinical outcomes can be achieved without increasing overall costs.”
Study: “Long-Term Outcomes and Health Care Costs of Fruits and Vegetables vs. Sodium Bicarbonate or Usual Care for Metabolic Acidosis in CKD: Post Hoc Analysis of a 10-Year Randomized Trial”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-devel...m-disaster
EXCERPTS: Love them or loathe them, bananas are one of the world’s most popular fruit. But a combination of the climate crisis and new killer diseases have had growers concerned over the banana’s threatened extinction, something that would impose a huge toll on farmers in countries from Guatemala to Malawi, alongside eradicating a staple food.
Now researchers say they have made fresh advances in the race to save them from disaster. This month, Yelloway – a research collaboration between Chiquita, the world’s largest banana company, and the crop-improvement company KeyGene – announced it had developed a fully fertile Cavendish banana, meaning it may be possible, through cross-breeding, to create new banana varieties that are commercially viable and resistant to disease.
Second only to the tomato in terms of fruit consumption globally, the world grows about 139m tonnes of bananas a year. While there are more than 1,000 varieties, it is the Cavendish that is now found in most fruit bowls, taking over from the Gros Michel cultivar, which fell victim to Panama disease from the 1950s.
[...] Cavendish bananas have three sets of chromosomes, meaning they are typically sterile. “Combined with the ability to set fruit without pollination, this gives us the seedless banana,” said De Vega. There are several different types of Cavendish, including dwarf versions, which have arisen as a result of random mutations in the Cavendish genome.
But in each case new plants are grown from offshoots, so they are virtually genetically identical to the plant from which they came. While this results in uniform fruit, it also means they are vulnerable to the same diseases. Peter Stedman, Chiquita’s sustainability director, said: “We are not trying to preserve Cavendish. We’re trying to replace Cavendish because we believe at the core of any sustainable farming system is biodiversity and genetic diversity.”
Other researchers have taken different approaches. [...] But while it may result in disease-resistant progeny, he noted it could also yield a very different type of fruit.
“Whatever they generate is going to be different to Cavendish,” Dale said, pointing out that crosses could produce a huge range of types but any new variety needed not only to be resistant to disease but also produce high yields and taste good. (MORE - missing details)
Fruits and vegetables outperform medication for treating metabolic acidosis in chronic kidney disease
https://www.asn-online.org/about/press/r...eek202.pdf
PRESS RELEASE: In people with chronic kidney disease (CKD), oral sodium bicarbonate is a standard treatment for metabolic acidosis (too much acid buildup in the body), but results from a recent clinical trial indicate that dietary acid reduction with base producing fruits and vegetables may be a better option. The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2026 October 22–25.
In the trial, 108 adults with stage 3 CKD and metabolic acidosis were randomized to receive fruits and vegetables (to reduce dietary acid by half), oral sodium bicarbonate (also to reduce dietary acid by half), or usual care (36 patients in each group). Participants were followed annually for 10 years.
During follow-up, there were 115 hospitalizations, 166 emergency department visits, and 34 patients needed dialysis. Compared with the usual care group, the fruits and vegetables group had fewer hospitalizations (14 versus 64), fewer emergency department visits (20 versus 88), and less progression to dialysis (4 versus 16). There was no difference between those given sodium bicarbonate compared with usual care regarding these outcomes.
“Treatment of metabolic acidosis with fruits and vegetables was associated with more favorable long-term clinical outcomes and health care utilization than standard treatment with sodium bicarbonate or usual care, without increasing overall health-system or societal costs,” said corresponding author Nimrit Goraya, MD, of Baylor Scott and White Health.
“These findings support evaluating dietary interventions in chronic kidney disease not only at the individual-patient level but also at the population level, where the cumulative clinical and economic benefits may be substantial. They also highlight the potential quality-of-life and health-system value of investing in fruits and vegetables as a treatment strategy, particularly when favorable clinical outcomes can be achieved without increasing overall costs.”
Study: “Long-Term Outcomes and Health Care Costs of Fruits and Vegetables vs. Sodium Bicarbonate or Usual Care for Metabolic Acidosis in CKD: Post Hoc Analysis of a 10-Year Randomized Trial”