Question

The gene for red hair is recessive to the gene for black hair. What will be the hair color of a person if he inherits a gene for red hair from his mother and a gene for black hair from his father?

(a) Red
(b) Black
(c) Red and black
(d) Not determined

Answer 1

The hair color of a person inheriting a gene for red hair from their mother and a gene for black hair from their father would be black. This is because black hair is a dominant trait and thus masks the expression of the recessive red hair gene.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks about hair color inheritance, specifically in the scenario where a person inherits a gene for red hair, which is recessive, and a gene for black hair, which is dominant. According to Mendel's theory of inheritance, an individual with one dominant allele (black hair in this case) and one recessive allele (red hair) will express the dominant trait. Therefore, the person would exhibit black hair, not red. This is because the dominant allele has the ability to mask the expression of the recessive allele in a heterozygous pair.