Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Course List)
11th Edition
ISBN: 9781305251052
Author: Michael Cummings
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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How do geneticist normally tell whether an organism exhibiting a dominant phenotype is homozygous or heterozygous for such a trait? Illustrate with an example.
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- Pedigree analysis is a fundamental tool for investigating whether or not a trait is following a Mendelian pattern of inheritance. It can also be used to help identify individuals within a family who may be at risk for the trait. Adam and Sarah, a young couple of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, went to a genetic counselor because they were planning a family and wanted to know what their chances were for having a child with a genetic condition. The genetic counselor took a detailed family history from both of them and discovered several traits in their respective families. Sarahs maternal family history is suggestive of an autosomal dominant pattern of cancer predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer because of the young ages at which her mother and grandmother were diagnosed with their cancers. If a mutant allele that predisposed to breast and ovarian cancer was inherited in Sarahs family, she, her sister, and any of her own future children could be at risk for inheriting this mutation. The counselor told her that genetic testing is available that may help determine if this mutant allele is present in her family members. Adams paternal family history has a very strong pattern of early onset heart disease. An autosomal dominant condition known as familial hypercholesterolemia may be responsible for the large number of deaths from heart disease. As with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, genetic testing is available to see if Adam carries the mutant allele. Testing will give the couple more information about the chances that their children could inherit this mutation. Adam had a first cousin who died from Tay-Sachs disease (TSD), a fatal autosomal recessive condition most commonly found in people of Eastern European Jewish descent. Because TSD is a recessively inherited disorder, both of his cousins parents must have been heterozygous carriers of the mutant allele. If that is the case, Adams father could be a carrier as well. If Adams father carries the mutant TSD allele, it is possible that Adam inherited this mutation. Because Sarah is also of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, she could also be a carrier of the gene, even though no one in her family has been affected with TSD. If Adam and Sarah are both carriers, each of their children would have a 25% chance of being afflicted with TSD. A simple blood test performed on both Sarah and Adam could determine whether they are carriers of this mutation. Would you decide to have a child if the test results said that you carry the mutation for breast and ovarian cancer? The heart disease mutation? The TSD mutation? The heart disease and the mutant alleles?arrow_forwardPedigree analysis is a fundamental tool for investigating whether or not a trait is following a Mendelian pattern of inheritance. It can also be used to help identify individuals within a family who may be at risk for the trait. Adam and Sarah, a young couple of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, went to a genetic counselor because they were planning a family and wanted to know what their chances were for having a child with a genetic condition. The genetic counselor took a detailed family history from both of them and discovered several traits in their respective families. Sarahs maternal family history is suggestive of an autosomal dominant pattern of cancer predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer because of the young ages at which her mother and grandmother were diagnosed with their cancers. If a mutant allele that predisposed to breast and ovarian cancer was inherited in Sarahs family, she, her sister, and any of her own future children could be at risk for inheriting this mutation. The counselor told her that genetic testing is available that may help determine if this mutant allele is present in her family members. Adams paternal family history has a very strong pattern of early onset heart disease. An autosomal dominant condition known as familial hypercholesterolemia may be responsible for the large number of deaths from heart disease. As with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, genetic testing is available to see if Adam carries the mutant allele. Testing will give the couple more information about the chances that their children could inherit this mutation. Adam had a first cousin who died from Tay-Sachs disease (TSD), a fatal autosomal recessive condition most commonly found in people of Eastern European Jewish descent. Because TSD is a recessively inherited disorder, both of his cousins parents must have been heterozygous carriers of the mutant allele. If that is the case, Adams father could be a carrier as well. If Adams father carries the mutant TSD allele, it is possible that Adam inherited this mutation. Because Sarah is also of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, she could also be a carrier of the gene, even though no one in her family has been affected with TSD. If Adam and Sarah are both carriers, each of their children would have a 25% chance of being afflicted with TSD. A simple blood test performed on both Sarah and Adam could determine whether they are carriers of this mutation. If Sarah carries the mutant cancer allele and Adam carries the mutant heart disease allele, what is the chance that they would have a child who is free of both diseases? Are these good odds?arrow_forwardPedigree analysis is a fundamental tool for investigating whether or not a trait is following a Mendelian pattern of inheritance. It can also be used to help identify individuals within a family who may be at risk for the trait. Adam and Sarah, a young couple of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, went to a genetic counselor because they were planning a family and wanted to know what their chances were for having a child with a genetic condition. The genetic counselor took a detailed family history from both of them and discovered several traits in their respective families. Sarahs maternal family history is suggestive of an autosomal dominant pattern of cancer predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer because of the young ages at which her mother and grandmother were diagnosed with their cancers. If a mutant allele that predisposed to breast and ovarian cancer was inherited in Sarahs family, she, her sister, and any of her own future children could be at risk for inheriting this mutation. The counselor told her that genetic testing is available that may help determine if this mutant allele is present in her family members. Adams paternal family history has a very strong pattern of early onset heart disease. An autosomal dominant condition known as familial hypercholesterolemia may be responsible for the large number of deaths from heart disease. As with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, genetic testing is available to see if Adam carries the mutant allele. Testing will give the couple more information about the chances that their children could inherit this mutation. Adam had a first cousin who died from Tay-Sachs disease (TSD), a fatal autosomal recessive condition most commonly found in people of Eastern European Jewish descent. Because TSD is a recessively inherited disorder, both of his cousins parents must have been heterozygous carriers of the mutant allele. If that is the case, Adams father could be a carrier as well. If Adams father carries the mutant TSD allele, it is possible that Adam inherited this mutation. Because Sarah is also of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, she could also be a carrier of the gene, even though no one in her family has been affected with TSD. If Adam and Sarah are both carriers, each of their children would have a 25% chance of being afflicted with TSD. A simple blood test performed on both Sarah and Adam could determine whether they are carriers of this mutation. Would you want to know the results of the cancer, heart disease, and TSD tests if you were Sarah and Adam? Is it their responsibility as potential parents to gather this type of information before they decide to have a child?arrow_forward
- Consider the following pedigree. Solid symbols represent individuals affected by the trait. Assume complete penetrance and non-variable expressivity. II 3 4 III 1 2 3 5 6 a) what is the mode of inheritance of this trait? b) Does the ratio of affected to unaffected offspring in generation III-1 to 1II-4 match the expected ratio for this mode of inheritance? Explain your answer in terms of the expected ratio versus the ratio observed. Give a reason for your answer. No mark is assigned for yes or no)arrow_forwardIf traits are inherited together, for example if Mendel found that this pea plant always had yellow and round seeds or green and wrinkled but never yellow and wrinkled or green and round. The explanation for this must be that; a) There is one gene controlling both phenotypes Ob) The genes are located close together on the same chromosome c) The genes are located on the same chromosome d) The genes are located close together on the same chromosome or there could be one gene controlling both phenotypesarrow_forwardShown in the pictures below are the degrees of dominance in the inheritance of flower color in some plants. *Based on the phenotypes (or maybe genotype), differentiate between complete dominance, incomplete dominance, and codominance. Be able to discuss the difference briefly but concisely. You may also refer to the definition.arrow_forward
- Consider the following cross examining four gene in two parental line: Parent 1: A/a; B/B; D/d; E/e Parent 2: A/a; B/b; d/d; e/e Assuming independent assortment for the four genes, what fraction of progeny will be phenotypically identical to either parent 1 or parent 2? (Hint: first figure out the fraction of progeny that resembles parent 1 and parent 2 separately, then get the overall fraction.) 3/8 3/4 3/16 1/16 9/16arrow_forwardIn humans, the genetic disease cystic fibrosis is caused by a recessive allele (a). The normal (healthy) allele is dominant (A). What is the genotype of someone who has cystic fibrosis? What are the two different genotypes that a healthy person could have? If two people were both heterozygous for the cystic fibrosis gene, what fraction of their children would be likely to have this disease? Hint: Draw a Punnett square to figure it out.arrow_forwardWhich of the following can help explain how continuous variation in a trait can arise from underlying discrete Mendelian genetics (i.e. individual loci at which there are alleles with discrete effects on the phenotype)? O a) Co-dominance b) Meiotic drive c) Blending inheritance d) Multiple loci and the environment can affect expression of a trait e) The germ plasm theoryarrow_forward
- Without referring to the notation used to write the genotypes, how are you able to tell that a gene is inherited by: a. complete dominance (as described by Mendel)? b. incomplete dominance? c. codominance?arrow_forwardThere is an autosomal gene in cats that controls whether or not they also have white patches of fur (W = white spots, w= no white spots). Considering this along with the Orange gene (O0 and OB) from the previous question, and how it works, how many possible genotypes (using these 4 alleles) are there for cats that are orange, black, and white (in other words, calico)?arrow_forwardPedigree Analysis Is a Basic Method in Human Genetics Using the pedigree provided, answer the following questions. a. Is the proband male or female? b. Is the grandfather of the proband affected? c. How many siblings does the proband have, and where is he or she in the birth order?arrow_forward
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