The Plant Breeding and Genetics Section (PGS) of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture established a mutation breeding programme for the development of Cavendish bananas resistant to the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum, a destructive pathogen that damages the roots of banana plants. In the 1990s, a new strain of the fungus appeared in Southeast Asia called TR4 which caused enormous damage to banana cultivations. TR4 poses considerable risks not only to the banana industry but also to the food security of populations in many producing countries. Spores of the fungus can remain active in the soil for more than ten years and the disease can easily spread among other plantations. Recently TR4 was reported in Latin America. In the mutation breeding programme, a large mutant population of the Cavendish banana cultivar Grande Naine was produced and screened for resistance to TR4. Eight banana mutants showed no disease symptoms after artificial inoculation, paving the way to the development of TR4 resistant bananas. More information on this project is provided in the latest issue (January 2022) of the PGS Newsletter. The newsletter gives an overview of their past and upcoming events, ongoing projects and publications and is issued twice a year. See https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Newsletters/pbg-48.pdf or contact [email protected] for more information.