Genetics Question

Question

1. Two parents are planning on having a child. The mother has a full head of hair which is red (Hhbb) and the father is bald (hhBb). What is the likelihood the child will have a full head of blonde hair? The following is an example of which type of inheritance? (H= Dominant allele for full head of hair, h= Recessive allele for bald head) (B= Dominant allele for blonde hair, b= Recessive allele for red hair)

Answer 1

The likelihood of the child having blonde hair is 25%. This is because the likelihood of having hair is (½) and the likelihood of the hair being blonde is also (½). If you multiply these independent events, the overall probability of having a blonde head of hair is 25%. The type of inheritance that this follows is epistasis, because one gene (Hair or no hair) is affecting whether another gene (hair color) is shown.