if all store bought bananas are clones, then how come they can vary so much in size? Some are absolutely huge whereas some are extremely tiny. If they are biological identical, shouldn’t they be of similar size?

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if all store bought bananas are clones, then how come they can vary so much in size? Some are absolutely huge whereas some are extremely tiny. If they are biological identical, shouldn’t they be of similar size?

In: Biology

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Environmental effects like sun exposure or humidity do play a huge role in how living beings develop.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Take a set of identical twin humans (same DNA, like clones). Raise one with great food, comfy housing, regular exercise, and low stress. Raise the other one in a dark cage, feeding it a small plate once per day, never leaving the basement. It’s guaranteed the well-reared twin ends up much taller and heavier than the famine twin.

“But they have the same genes, shouldn’t they look and grow the same?”

But growth and development is the combination of genes *and environment*. In the same environment, yes they would!

How does this apply to bananas? Different banana farms get different amounts of sun, of rain, of heat. They use different amounts of different fertilizers. They have different pests. Their growing seasons are of different lengths. Even within one farm (which are often on hills), one side of the field may be shadier or drier. One side of the *tree* may be shadier or drier. One side of *that single bunch* may be shadier or drier!

All these factors and more affect how each banana lives up to its genetic “potential”.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Environmental factors, as others have said and explained. But also, the age at which they’re harvested plays a part too. Leave em longer, they’ll be bigger.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Bananas grow in [bunches](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/FAFK3P/close-up-green-banana-bunch-in-tree-FAFK3P.jpg) so bananas on different parts of the bunch can wind up being different sizes.

That said, _all_ bananas aren’t clones. All bananas of any particular variety are clones, and the vast majority of bananas in grocery stores come from a single variety and are therefore clones of each other. But you _do_ sometimes see other kinds of bananas in grocery stores (more often if you live somewhere tropical). But even in colder areas you sometimes see little half-size bananas that are just a different variety and not clones of standard bananas (but are all clones of each other).