This CRISP(r) Is Bananas

Genetic modification via CRISPR is the only way to ensure that we can all have cheap bananas. Amusing, WIRED buries the lede pretty far down: the banana disease spreads via... wait for it... migrant banana workers.

The #Blessed part of the world wants four-season tropical fruit so we can all live our best lives. The #NonBlessed part of the world has to trudge around doing the work, and the corporations have ensured that there's a legal framework to make it possible. Cut down the demand from DUMBO or the insane practice of permitting open borders for the purpose of cutting corporate expenses, and the problem never comes up. But it's okay. We can use genetic editing to fix the problem. We can all learn to use CRISPR, the same way they are trying to force every elementary student in America through a "learn to code" process. And then we can unleash hell.

What would you do once you became a master of gene editing? If you can make a banana that is resistant to the TR4 disease, you can also make a TR5 disease that kills a competitor's banana. Oh, and you can also rejigger the influenza virus so it's deadlier than ever. And you can key it to certain gene markers, too. Today's Amazon link to make us rich is Frank Herbert's The White Plague. No prizes for guessing that the next "white plague" will come from China, and no prizes for guessing whom it will target.