Most bananas grown for export are clones of one variety. A new fungal pathogen is spreading through banana farms.
Why is this a greater threat to food security than if the banana plants were genetically varied?
No plants are likely to have alleles for resistance, so all could be infected
Cloned plants grow faster, so the pathogen can spread through them faster
The pathogen mutates more often in clones, so it becomes harder to control
Cloned plants cannot make antibodies, so they cannot destroy the pathogen
42 exam-style questions on AQA GCSE Biology 7.5 Food production, covering 7.5.1 Factors affecting food security, 7.5.2 Farming techniques, 7.5.3 Sustainable fisheries, and 7.5.4 Role of biotechnology. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.