It is an ongoing research project. The Gros Michel itself is not gone; there are a number of plants still living, but currently they are trying to deal with the strange banana chromosomes: bananas have three chromosomes -- an odd number!
> It's very hard to genetically modify a plant that doesn't produce any seeds!
Huh? Gene modification in plants is almost always done on individual cells that are then grown into fully-differentiated plants using tissue culture techniques. There are well established protocols for this. Bananas are routinely grown from tissue culture.
Depends on the method. Gene guns work best with embryonic tissue, which is found in the seeds. The Agrobacteria method can use just about any tissue, but doesn't work for all plants.
That article talks about them applying for clinical trials, but I'm pretty sure they don't have the carotene transformed banana plant yet (unless it's unpublished).
It's very hard to genetically modify a plant that doesn't produce any seeds! Can bananas produce seeds? Yes, apparently:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_disease#The_response
It is an ongoing research project. The Gros Michel itself is not gone; there are a number of plants still living, but currently they are trying to deal with the strange banana chromosomes: bananas have three chromosomes -- an odd number!