Chapter 7, Problem 29P

In humans, albinism is normally inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion. Figure 3.24c in Chapter 3 shows a pedigree in which two albino parents have several children, none of whom is an albino.

a.	Interpret this pedigree in terms of a complementation test.
b.	It is very rare to find examples of human pedigrees such as Figure 3.24c that in effect represent a complementation test. The reason is that most genetic conditions in humans are rare, so it is highly unlikely that unrelated people with the same condition would mate. In the absence of complementation testing, what kinds of experiments could be done to determine whether a particular human disease phenotype can be caused by mutations at more than one gene?
c.	Complementation testing requires that the two mutations to be tested are both recessive to wild type. Suppose that two dominant mutations cause similar phenotypes. How could you establish whether these mutations affected the same gene or different genes?