--- title: Researchers Hope 'Super Bananas' Will Combat Vitamin A Deficiency description: Bananas genetically engineered with micronutrients will undergo human trial to test their effectiveness in battling vitamin A deficiencies canonical: https://time.com/2880579/super-banana-vitamins-nutrients-uganda-genetic-engineering/ author: Melissa Hellmann article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-16T10:07:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:57:33.123Z article:section: Health og:title: Researchers Hope 'Super Bananas' Will Combat Vitamin A Deficiency og:description: Bananas genetically engineered with micronutrients will undergo human trial to test their effectiveness in battling vitamin A deficiencies og:url: https://time.com/2880579/super-banana-vitamins-nutrients-uganda-genetic-engineering/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd26fefcdbaeab58d/698697b53617609fc390ca00/bananas.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5500 og:image:height: 3094 og:image:alt: Bananas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Researchers Hope 'Super Bananas' Will Combat Vitamin A Deficiency twitter:description: Bananas genetically engineered with micronutrients will undergo human trial to test their effectiveness in battling vitamin A deficiencies twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd26fefcdbaeab58d/698697b53617609fc390ca00/bananas.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Researchers Hope 'Super Bananas' Will Combat Vitamin A Deficiency > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=fadd6e89-e785-4929-98a7-40fb8d5cc2a6&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Super Bananas’ Getting First Human Trial [Watch (HLS stream): Super Bananas’ Getting First Human Trial](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gc9TWGKF.m3u8) (0:55)  _Published 2014-06-16. On the outside, they’ll look the same. But soon, a genetic boost to the humble banana could go a long way toward ending infant and childhood death by malnutrition in Africa._ by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 16, 2014 10:07 AM UTC by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 16, 2014 10:07 AM UTC Genetically engineered bananas, [packed](http://www.afp.com/en/news/super-banana-face-first-human-trial) with micronutrients, are to undergo their first human trial in the United States to test their ability to battle rampant vitamin A deficiency — a large cause of infant death and blindness throughout low-income communities around the world. “The consequences of vitamin A deficiency are dire with 650,000 to 700,000 children worldwide dying … each year and at least another 300,000 going blind,” the project leader, Professor James Dale from Australia’s Queensland University of Technology, told AFP. The six-week trial backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation expects to have results by the end of the year and plans to have the bananas growing in Uganda by 2020. Standard Ugandan bananas provide sustenance to East Africa but have low levels of nutrients such as iron and vitamin A. “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,” said Dale. Researchers infused the staple crop in Uganda with alpha- and beta-carotene — which the body turns into vitamin A — as an easy solution to the problem that plagues the country, but the same modification could be used on different crops as well. If the bananas are approved for growth in Uganda, other staple crops in Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya could also be engineered with micronutrients. “In West Africa farmers grow plantain bananas and the same technology could easily be transferred to that variety as well,” Dale said. \[[_AFP_](http://www.afp.com/en/news/super-banana-face-first-human-trial)\] ## Transcript On the outside, they'll look the same. But soon, a genetic boost to the humble banana could go a long way toward ending infant and childhood death by malnutrition in Africa. Specifically, new genetically modified super- bananas aimed to address vitamin A deficiency which can cause blindness and kills an estimated 650, 000 to 700, 000 children globally every year. The souped up bananas are infused with alpha and beta- keratin. The only difference in appearance, the new bananas will be more orange on the inside. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is backing a six week human trial of the so- called super bananas in the US. Researchers are particularly hopeful about the possibilities in Uganda, where according to UNICEF, the world's highest incidents of stunted growth in children occur. Stunted growth is blamed on malnutrition. If the US trials are promising, the super bananas could be growing in Uganda by 2020. 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