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Cavendish and the ozone layer...
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Until my recent issue of Popular Science magazine i was blissfully unaware of the fact that there was more than one type of Bananna. Apparently there are more than three hundred! There is a problem with banannas in that they are all gentically alike. A plague that effects one bananna of the same type effects all bannanas of the same type. Ive learned that up until the mid 6o's we had a bigger much tastier bannan dubbed "Big Mike" but it was wiped from the face of the earth. The same thing is going to happen to the bannan we all eat here in the states called the Cavendish. So, my question to you all is what should we do about it. And in an entirely unrelated bit, scientists have come up with lots of new crazy ideas to help cool down the earth. From giant co2 filters to a space mirror. Any thoughts on that as well. *end rant*  |
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Re: Cavendish and the ozone layer...
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by
on 2005-07-20 17:15:04 |
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i love biology and i am very interested in genetics. the problem where all members of a species are too genetically close is often refered to as having a low genetic diversity. the problem with this is simple: fewer genetic differences means one disease can attack a weaknes that is shared by all memebers of the species. there is an analagous situation in which all windows users have the same crappy software so one virus can infect millions of people overnight. bananas probably have a low genetic diversity because we have cultivated just a few that are yummy, and killed off the non-yummy ones. the draw back is, those ones that were not so yummy might have posessed certain defence mechanisms against insects or fungus or something which are now lost. god save the bananas! 
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Re: Cavendish and the ozone layer...
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by EricSoLazy
on 2005-07-20 18:56:38
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well most bananas are grown in farms and to a fact that they are extremly rare in the wild.. but for over 300 types, im not surprised, but I had a good amount of time of my childhood on farms, and and im used to how many kindas of apples there are. As for the ozone layer.. i think adding more things will complicate the situation, we need to take a step back, find the cause and elimate the cause instead of creating something to conterreact the cause. Brushing a mess under the rug is an easy solution, but not ideal.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Re: Cavendish and the ozone layer...
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A note on those bananas... Be aware that they grow them in garbage bags full of fungucide... That's how they make sure they are so yellow, but the locals where the bananas are grown refuse to eat them, instead avoiding the fungicide and taking the splotched yellow, black and brown bananas that grow naturaly. Not that this information stops me from loving my yellow bananas, but some people care, so I might as well tell them.
Despair From Darkness
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