Kyla Mae C.

Martinez July 28, 2023

BS Biology 3-1 BIOL 2700
ASSESMENT TASK NO. 2

Dr. Gabriel O. Romero is the one who introduced the topic "Tropic: Reduced
Browning Banana", which states the global challenges that people experience nowadays
are growing population, food security, human health, and climate change. The population
is proliferating and needs tight food security to ease starvation worldwide. Dr. Gabriel O.
Romero suggested a solution - where innovating a new plant breeding will be the key to
meeting the world's needs.

According to Dr. Gabriel O. Romero, Tropic is a pioneering frontrunner in the

agricultural gene editing sector, with a distinct focus on the massive tropical agriculture
market. They aim to solve the problems that farmers face in tropical countries like the
Philippines. To recreate a new environment to grow this "brown banana", they have their
own greenhouse and laboratories for plant tissue analysis and other laboratory activities
needed for their research. The research was conducted in the United Kingdom (UK)
because it has advanced and complete biotechnology equipment to finish the study and
solve the problem that the world is facing.

Dr. Gabriel O. Romero's mission is to become a world-leading tropical seeds

company that creates sustainable agricultural solutions which maximize productivity and
prosperity for the growers who need it most. Several companies most likely focus on
western crops like maize, millet, and vegetables than tropical crops such as bananas,
rice, and apples. Their study focused on the tropical agriculture market, where the
humanitarian need is the greatest, and their priority is innovating and enhancing tropical
crops for food security in the world.

In Dr. Romero's article, the banana is the main fruit that is grown in tropical
countries in the world. As we know, fruits and vegetables are very crucial in the daily diet
of humans and give our bodies a healthy one. To innovate the new plant breeding in
bananas, their techniques in their research enabled non-transgenic gene-edited novel
varieties. They conducted whole banana genome sequencing, tissue-specific gene
mapping, and precise on-target editing.

They conducted this research so the banana peel can be reused in various
recovery processes since people often throw it away anywhere. Using it in multiple
applications also makes it possible to close production cycles and limit the amount of
waste generated by the banana industry, which advances the circular economy.