Concept explainers
HOW DO WE KNOW?
In this chapter, we focused on a mode of inheritance referred to as quantitative genetics, as well as many of the statistical parameters utilized to study quantitative traits. Along the way, we found opportunities to consider the methods and reasoning by which geneticists acquired much of their understanding of quantitative genetics. From the explanations given in the chapter, what answers would you propose to the following fundamental questions:
(a) How do we know that threshold traits are actually polygenic even though they may have as few as two discrete phenotypic classes?
(b) How can we ascertain the number of polygenes involved in the inheritance of a quantitative trait?
(c) What findings led geneticists to postulate the multiple-factor hypothesis that invoked the idea of additive alleles to explain inheritance patterns?
(d) How do we assess environmental factors to determine if they impact the
(e) How do we know that monozygotic twins are not identical genotypically as adults?
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Concepts of Genetics Plus Mastering Genetics with Pearson eText -- Access Card Package (12th Edition) (What's New in Genetics)
- 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 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_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 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_forwardWhile studying the genetics of the "Cute Faced Bat" face structure gene, three alleles ) are identified that produce 6 genotypes and 4 phenotypes “Cute”, “Super Cute Nose”, “Super Cute Face”, and “Super, Duper Cute” (equally expressing both Super Cute Face and Super Cute Nose). Given these observations, what can you conclude about the allele interactions?arrow_forward
- To locate genes associated with quantitative traits, geneticists often use QTL mapping (see the introduction to this chapter). To carry out QTL mapping, a first step is crossing two strains that differ in a quantitative trait, such as a strain of corn with high oil content and a strain with low oil content. The F1 progeny of this cross are then interbred or backcrossed to produce an F2 generation. Researchers then look for statistical associations between genetic markers and the value of the quantitative trait (e.g., oil content) in the F2 generation. Why do the geneticists look for statistical associations in the F2 plants? Why not use the F1 progeny?arrow_forwardAre Mendel’s principles of segregation and independent assortment even relevant today in the age of genomics, when it is possible to sequence an organism’s entire genome and determine all of its genetic information? Why is it important to study these principles, and how can they be used?arrow_forwardIn assessing data that fell into two phenotypic classes, a geneticist observed values of 20:150. She decided to perform a Chi-Square (X) analysis by using the following two different null hypotheses: a) the data fit the 3:1 ratio, and b) the data fit the 1:1 ratio. Calculate the Chi-Square (x) values for each hypothesis. What can be concluded about each hypothesis?arrow_forward
- .A) To determine if a human trait is heritable, we would best study Group of answer choices. I think it's A. Please explain your answer I'm trying to understand the material a. monozygotic twins that were raised separately, in different environments. b. monozygotic twins that have been raised under similar conditions. c.only distantly related individuals. d. all males or all females. B). To say that a trait exhibits “high heritability” is to say that a. a given set of genes has no influence on a trait. b. there is no difference in genotype between members of the population at the loci in question. c. in a given environment and population, genetic differences have a high degree of influence on the trait compared to environmental influences. d. there is no difference in character between two individuals with the same genotype in question. C). If two populations with identical genetic makeup are raised in different environments, the narrow-sense heritability of a trait of…arrow_forwardI need explanation for the why the answer is correct? And why would the other options wrongarrow_forwardAccording to Amar J. S. Klar, is there a such thing as “left handedness”? What is the preferred term? Describe how the genetics works, according to his hypothesis. What are the alleles, and which combinations of alleles make for which type of hand use?arrow_forward
- The following genetic map describes three hypothetical human autosomal genes, each of which exhibits two alleles. Two-factor map distances are shown. A = Artistic (dominant) a = Inartistic (recessive) M = Moral (dominant) m = Immoral (recessive) G = Generous (dominant) g = Greedy (recessive) Assume that these traits exhibit simple Mendelian dominance/recessiveness. The coefficient of coincidence for this map is 0.4. An artistic, moral, generous heterozygous female of genotype AMG/amg marries an inartistic, immoral, greedy homozygous male of genotype amg/amg. What is the probability that their firstborn child will be inartistic, immoral and greedy? What is the probability that their firstborn child will be inartistic, moral and generous? What is the probability that their firstborn child will be artistic, immoral and generous?arrow_forwarda) What do the authors say is known and not known about the genetics of butterfly wing patterns? b) What were the controls and experimental manipulations in this experiment? Give specific examples of each from Figure 1. c) Carefully read the the Figure 1 legend. Annotate the copy of Figure 1 by following the instructions in the boxes below. Write everything in your own words and in a way that a general audience would understand.arrow_forwardCraniofrontonasal syndrome (CFNS) is a birth defect in whichpremature fusion of the cranial sutures leads to abnormal head shape, widely spaced eyes, nasal clefts, and various other skeletal abnormalities. George Feldman and his colleagues looked at several families in which offspring had CFNS and recorded the results shown in the following table (G. J. Feldman. 1997. Human Molecular Genetics 6:1937–1941). Q. On the basis of these results, what is the most likely mode of inheritance for CFNS?arrow_forward
- Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (MindTap Co...BiologyISBN:9781305251052Author:Michael CummingsPublisher:Cengage LearningHuman Biology (MindTap Course List)BiologyISBN:9781305112100Author:Cecie Starr, Beverly McMillanPublisher:Cengage Learning