Question

Select the correct explanation for the fact that a carrier of a recessive genetic disorder does not have the disorder.

A. Affected individuals have recessive mutations, but a carrier has a dominant mutation.
B. The dominant allele for the gene determining the disorder represses protein production from the recessive allele.
C. In a recessive disorder, only a single functioning allele is necessary to determine a normal phenotype.

Answer 1

The correct explanation for the fact that a carrier of a recessive genetic disorder does not have the disorder is because in a recessive disorder, only a single functioning allele is necessary to determine a normal phenotype.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct explanation for the fact that a carrier of a recessive genetic disorder does not have the disorder is:

C. In a recessive disorder, only a single functioning allele is necessary to determine a normal phenotype.

In autosomal recessive disorders, two copies of the recessive allele are required for the disorder to be expressed. Carriers have one normal copy of the gene and one copy of the recessive allele. Since the normal gene is dominant, it compensates for the recessive allele and allows the carrier to have a normal phenotype.

Answer 2

A carrier of a recessive genetic disorder does not have the disorder because the dominant allele for the gene determining the disorder represses protein production from the recessive allele.

Step-by-step explanation:

A recessive genetic disorder will be caused when both the alleles determining the disorder would be recessive. If one of the alleles is dominant and the other allele is recessive then the person would be the carrier for that disease. Hence, the effect of the recessive allele will be suppressed by the dominant allele so the person would not suffer from that disorder.

For a recessive disorder to occur, it is must that both alleles for that gene be recessive.