ONE of the world’s richest men has made a top-secret visit to Cairns to find out how his genetically modified crop of bananas is going. Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, slipped into the Far North last Saturday for a brief meeting with five scientists from the Queensland University of Technology. The scientists, who have $10 million backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have been developing a genetically modified banana plant at Innisfail capable of resisting a devastating disease.