How much DNA do humans really share with bananas? It is often repeated that humans share 60% DNA with bananas, but what is the important nuance of this statistic that gets left out? Genes, which are regions found in DNA that code for proteins, only make up less than 2 percent of your DNA. Scientists looked at that 2 percent and compared human and banana genes and found that 60% were a recognizable “match”, and even of those 60% match the protein similarity was found to be only 40% similar. So when it is mentioned that there is a 60% match, it is referencing the genes within the DNA. Even so, that is still a high percentage match for the genes, showing common ancestry. These are shared protein-coding genes that perform essential life functions such as cell growth, energy production, and DNA repair. All life forms originated from a single common ancestor. One evolutionary branch led to animals and humans, while another led to plants and bananas.