Biotech bananas, fortified with nutrients, will go through the first human
trial in the U.S. to test their ability to fight vitamin A deficiency. The
bananas have orange flesh, because of the increased beta-carotene, which
will be converted into vitamin A in the body. The biofortified banana was
developed by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to address the
vitamin A deficiency epidemic that kills hundreds of thousands of children
annually or causes them to go blind.

The trials will last for 6 weeks with the support of Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation. Results will be available at the end of 2014, and
commercialization is expected to start by 2020 in Uganda. The technology is
also intended to be transferred to other African countries including Rwanda,
Congo, Kenya, and Tanzania.

[news.sciencemag.org] and www.isaaa.org