Table 1. Inefficiency of statistical means to describe population growth.

	Mean colony size	Est total population	Difference from actual population
Arithmetic mean, Heterogeneous subpopulation	73	1314 cells	8 cells
Arithmetic, HCT 116 cells	41	943 cells	7 cells
Geometric mean, Heterogeneous subpopulation	19	342 cells	980 cells
Geometric mean, HCT 116 cells	37	806 cells	99 cells