Americans love bananas. Each of us eats 28 pounds of them a year on average—almost as much as apples and oranges combined. But a deadly fungus is threatening banana crops, and experts say bananas as we know them could soon disappear. More than 1,000 varieties of bananas exist, but the type that much of the world eats today is the Cavendish. Over the past few decades, though, a powerful strain of Panama disease has infected the Cavendish in parts of Asia, and more recently, in the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. Experts say the disease could hit Latin America, where more than three-fifths of the world’s imported bananas are grown. Scientists are trying to modify the banana plant to make it more resistant. Even if the Cavendish survives, the banana disease is likely to affect consumers. “Bananas could become more scarce and expensive,” says Sally Miller, a plant-disease expert at Ohio State University, “until the industry works through it.”