Lifestyle
Science Saved Papaya from Extinction
Papaya is a good source of dietary fibre and potassium and a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C and folate.
You probably know that the majority of papaya we find in Canadian grocery stores is grown in Hawaii, but did you know that a devastating disease almost wiped out the entire crop in the early 1990s?
A virus called papaya ringspot carried from plant to plant by aphids was discovered in Hawaii, and by the mid-1990s it had wiped out the majority of papaya trees. Researchers turned to biotechnology as a way to combat the virus.
By taking a gene from the virus itself, researchers found a way to essentially “vaccinate” the fruit and protect it. The improved plant was named the Rainbow Papaya and in 1999 the first biotech papayas were grown. Without the introduction of the biotech papaya, the Hawaiian papaya industry would have been completely wiped out and we wouldn’t have the delicious sweet fruit we continue to enjoy today.
Biotech crops like Rainbow Papayas are regulated to ensure they are just as safe as the earlier varieties. People around the world have consumed over a trillion meals containing ingredients from biotech crops over the last two decades and there has never been a credible case of illness associated with them.
