Final answer:
Mendel's Law of Segregation states each allele has an equal chance of being passed on to offspring, accounting for the 3:1 phenotype ratio seen in monohybrid crosses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The answer to the student's question is Mendel's Law of Segregation. This biological principle is described by the Law of Segregation, which Mendel formulated after his experiments with pea plants. It states that genes come in pairs and are segregated into separate gametes during reproduction.
Each gamete receives one allele of a gene pair, thus each allele has a 50/50 chance of being passed on to offspring. This explains the genetic variance within the F2 generation, demonstrating a 3:1 phenotypic ratio in cases of monohybrid crosses. Mendel identified that alleles segregate independently because they are sorted into gametes separately during the meiosis process. This foundational concept in genetics allows us to use Punnett squares to predict genetic outcomes. The law of segregation serves as a critical component for understanding how traits are inherited from generation to generation.
Mendel's Law of Segregation indicates that each allele for a gene has a 50/50 chance of being passed on to the offspring, which is observable during the meiosis process when alleles are segregated into different gametes.