What it means to share DNA with other organisms

Question

We share 60% of our DNA with bananas, but we are clearly not 60% banana.

In: 43

Answer 1

Ooh biologist here 🙂 We are actually very similar to bananas (or rather banana plants) at a cell/molecular level. The majority of DNA goes toward single-cell functions like basic metabolism (converting sugar to energy), moving stuff around inside our cells, signaling from one cell to another, replicating and repairing cells. Really basic but absolutely VITAL stuff. Humans and bananas might only have 40% difference in their DNA, but keep in mind that that is also thousands and thousands of genes. Plenty to create human vs. banana on top of the similar cell functions we both need to have.