'We know our science will work' - famous last words

Gates Foundation has a history of GMO support

(NaturalNews) What does the development of genetically modified bananas have to do with the world's richest man, founder of Microsoft Corp. Bill Gates? Everything.As noted by, James Dale, the director for the Center for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities atin Australia, says he's devoted a number of years to the creation of a better banana (what is currently wrong with the kind that grow naturally? We haven't a clue, but there it is).Dale says he's been working on creating a pro-vitamin A-enriched banana since 2005. "Good science can make a massive difference here by enriching staple crops such as Ugandan bananas with pro-vitamin A and providing poor and subsistence-farming populations with nutritionally rewarding food," he said in a statement.And now, thanks to nearly $10 million in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dale is close to achieving his goal. As reported by"We know our science will work. We made all the constructs, the genes that went into bananas, and put them into bananas here at QUT. Hundreds of different permutations went into field trials up north and we tested everything to make sure our science worked here in Queensland," Dale said.The report noted that prior to human consumption the bananas were safely eaten by Mongolian gerbils (not sure what the connection is to humans but we're going with it). The strain of bananas destined for human consumption were grown in Queensland and have since been shipped to the United States. A six-week trial is scheduled and the results will be reported by the end of the year.Dale says he hopes that Ugandan farmers will be growing the new GMO bananas by 2020.On his foundation's blog, Gates trumpeted the research and sounded a hopeful tone for the outcome:If, somehow, bananas are eradicated from the planet, other non-GMO sources of vitamin A include broccoli, carrots, apricots and sweet potatoes.