5.1k views
1 vote
Baldness is an X-linked recessive trait. A man with no hair loss marries a woman who carries the baldness trait. What are the chances that their sons will be bald? Their daughters?

User Tarah
by
8.2k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Final answer:

In this scenario, there is a 50% chance that their sons will be bald due to X-linked recessive inheritance. Their daughters, on the other hand, will not be affected by baldness but will have a 50% chance of being carriers of the gene.

Step-by-step explanation:

The chances that a son will be bald when a man with no hair loss marries a woman who carries the baldness trait, can be determined through X-linked recessive inheritance. In this case, the man does not have the baldness trait, so he does not carry the gene for baldness on his X chromosome. However, the woman carries the baldness trait on one of her X chromosomes. Since a son inherits his X chromosome from his mother, he has a 50% chance of receiving the X chromosome with the baldness gene and thus being bald.

On the other hand, the daughters in this scenario will not be bald because they receive one X chromosome from their mother without the baldness gene. However, they have a 50% chance of being carriers of the baldness gene, like their mother. This means that they can pass on the gene to their own children, but they will not be affected by baldness themselves.

User Jasmin
by
8.0k points