The bananas in your kitchen are genetically vulnerable clones and, after years of threatening it, they might finally be heading towards extinction.

The latest banana to stock your shelves is a particularly bland variety known to banana geeks by its proper name: The Cavendish. But to everybody else it’s known more simply as the only banana readily available. Fifty years ago, though, that spot was held by a different top banana: The Gros Michel (by all accounts a significantly less bland variety than our current), which was completely wiped out by a fungal infection that slowly spread worldwide, clearing the way for the Cavendish.

Now it looks like that same process is happening again.

[link to io9.com]